Operation: Kaine Island
by LadyAugust
Summary: When Josephine Augustine joined the Cooper Gang she didn't expect to spend a year just traveling. She expected more fighting, more heists... Of course things never stay stagnant for long. Soon she's running with Sly and Bentley again, looking for a team of master thieves to break down the doors to the Cooper Vault. Set during Sly 3, with added in levels.
1. Chapter 1 The Message

Hey there guys! It's been a little while. I'm excited to share this story with you guys. So, here's chapter one! Now a quick note; I am using the official comic that spans between games two and three, but I've made one rather large change to it. (PS if you haven't read the comic you can find it on the wiki)

* * *

Sly Cooper was getting antsy. It had been almost a year since the whole Clock-La incident and the gang was still split up. Sure he had Josephina, his girlfriend of nearly a year, but he was starting to feel the itch, the need to pull a job. It had been too long.

"Rings... Earth to Rings..." Josie waved a hand in front of his eyes and he jumped. "You've been staring at that flower cart for fifteen minutes now."

He shook his head to clear out his head and smiled sheepishly at her. "Sorry Josie." He said, ears falling against his head slightly.

"Sly, what's wrong? You've been acting funny all week."

"I'm fine... I've just been missing the guys and you know, pulling jobs." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. She smiled in sympathy and took his hand from across the table.

"We're just waiting for Bentley's signal remember? Any day now he'll have us come get him from the hospital and we can go get Murray back and call in the twins and all the others and be back to pulling jobs in no time." She smiled, her now blonde hair flopping in her face. "Until then we get to drink champagne and eat all the caviar we want. Sit back and take in the sights for once."

"We've been taking in the sights for a year Josie."

"So? The world is an amazing place! France is beautiful, the Rivera is amazing..." He gave her a dry look and she sighed. "Alright so I'm bored out of my mind too. This isn't exactly what I was hoping for when I decided to stick around. But, let's make this boring little trip interesting. We only have a few more uses on this card before someone tips Carm and Liam we're using it. Let's split up and see who can get the biggest haul before we get back to the hotel?" He smirked.

"You really think you can beat me? I won the last three times we did this."

"Well I have my damaged pride to think about." She winked. "Besides it beats sitting here moping." She stood, left the last credit card they had on the table and walked away with a small smirk. "See you back at the hotel." She blew him a kiss and then vanished, leaving him alone. He chuckled and left in the opposite direction, slipping through a small park, his hat pulled low as he put headphones in his ears and pretended to listen to music on his phone. He ran into a jogger and helped her to her feet, profusely apologizing as he slipped her wallet from her fanny pack. He waved to her and then tossed most of the wallet on the road, taking her cash and both credit cards before continuing on his way. By the time he returned to the hotel he had several hundred in cash, six credit cards, two watches and a diamond ring. Josie was waiting in their room, cross legged on the bed, and counting the cash she'd collected.

"How'd you make out?" He asked once the door was shut.

"Four fifty, three cards and a rather nice watch." She held up her wrist to show off the gold and diamond rollex.

"Fancy." He flopped down on the bed and counted out the cash he'd collected, smirking.

"Five twenty three, six cards, two watches and a ring. I win." She groaned and fell back on the bed.

"Damn it! How do you keep doing that?" She whined, though he knew she wasn't really upset.

"Awww, is my poor Josie-wosie slipping?" He teased.

"I am not slipping!" She pouted and Sly smirked, leaning over to kiss her.

"Says you." He collected their ill gotten gains and stuffed them in one of the bags. Tonight was their last night on the Riviera and they needed to be ready as soon as the sun came up in the morning.

"I'm not slipping!" She insisted, folding her arms over her chest. He smirked and sat down on the bed beside her.

"Alright, alright, I'll stop teasing." He chuckled. She smiled and leaned against his shoulder. Her ear twitched and she looked over at the window with a frown.

"That's the fourth carrier pigeon this week." She grumbled. Sly nodded and frowned, getting up and going to the window to open it. The bird hopped into the room and cooed as he took the message from it's leg.

He read the small slip of paper and then sighed, crumpling it up. "Alright, that's it, I need to go find out who this Big Jim McSweeney is. He's been trying to get my attention for three weeks now."

Josie nodded and smiled at him. "I'll make a few calls. See what I can find."

"Thanks sweetie." He cooed, walking over to give her a quick kiss. "I'll see what mine can find too."

They spent the rest of the night planning their next move and getting in touch with their contacts around the world, searching for whoever Big Jim McSweeney was.

* * *

Josie narrowed her eyes as she looked over her contact's information. She'd spent three days getting every scrap of information on the mysterious pidgeon sending stranger. It wasn't much. A friend of her father knew the man, but that friend had Alzheimer's and could barely form sentences, let alone remember something from twenty years prior. All he'd been able to give them was the word Heathrow. Even then it took a full day to get any hits.

"Sly, I found something!" She called excitedly into the small kitchen. "James C. McSweeney, known associate of Connor Cooper and Dr. Reginald Mandrill arrested in 1992 only a few weeks after your parent's death. Says here, he turned himself in." Sly leaned over her shoulder to read what little information she'd found. "Currently housed at Heathrow Prison for the Criminally Insane and Dangerous."

"Didn't Tris mention there was a riot there a few months back?"

"Yeah, like eight months ago..." He narrowed his eyes.

"What's his current status?"

"Doesn't say and I'm not a hacker. Computer talk makes no sense. If you want to know about McSweeney we have to send the information to Tris and wait three weeks or head to South Carolina now." Sly sighed and stood back to his full height.

"We can't wait three weeks. I need answers."

"You're gonna make me go to South Carolina aren't you Rings?"

"Like I could make you do anything you didn't want to." He rolled his eyes and smirked at her. "Look, I can go alone, or you can come with me, but either way I'm going to talk to this guy. He supposedly was associated with my dad, that's reason enough." In the twelve years since his father's death, Sly hadn't found a single one of his father's old contacts. Not one had reached out to him and his father's contacts list had been seized by the police after his death. The ones who weren't in jail had done a very good job at laying low and most, if not all of them, were very likely retired. This was likely Sly's only chance to learn anything he didn't already know about his father, and maybe even his mother.

Josie nodded. She understood, if it had been information on her parents she would have wanted to know. "Alright, I'll come with you. Act as getaway driver. But if I get arrested because some nut job dropped a name and lured you into a trap, your tail will be my new scarf." He laughed and nodded, raising his hands slightly.

"Easy tiger." He chuckled. She stood and shut her laptop, giving him a quick kiss.

"So I guess we should get going to South Carolina."

"Guess so." He grinned.

* * *

Big Jim McSweeney was an aging man. Long past his prime, he had spent the past twenty or so years in Heathrow Prison and was currently fighting a losing battle with cancer, not to mention nursing a stab wound from a fellow inmate. Damn pudding cups. They kept getting him in trouble. He grunted and shifted on his medical cot.

"Lights out in ten McSweeney." He glanced at the nurse and grimaced.

"As if I can actually get ta sleep." He mumbled under his breath.

"I don't care if you can't sleep Jim, it's lights out for everyone. No exceptions."

"Now see if that were true the guards would have ta sleep too." She glared at him and he chuckled, though it turned into a rather violent coughing fit. "When am I getting back to my own damn cell?"

"If your cancer magically goes away in the next ten minutes I'll have you transferred back. How's that sound?" She deadpanned. He groaned and leaned his head back on the pillows, staring at the ceiling. At least he wasn't currently hooked up to any of the machines around him. "I'll see you tomorrow Jim."

"See ya Delores." He waved and watched the doddering old rabbit shuffle out, replaced by the cold and rather bitter young owl on nightwatch duty this week. "Evening Polly, or is it Morning for ya?"

"Lights out McSweeney." She hissed at him, flicking off the lights and moving to her usual place at the small desk, with her little lamp and her stupid trashy romance serials and her god damn annoying bubble gum popping. He sighed. It was going to be a long night, his lungs were burning and his leg was acting up. No way was he getting to sleep anytime soon.

After an hour of listening to Polly's annoying music blasting through her headphones and her gum popping he'd about had it. His ear twitched as a guard walked in and he looked over at him. Guards didn't usually stop by the infirmary unless they were stationed there, or they were bringing in or taking out injured inmates.

"McSweeney? Bed six." Polly grumbled after a short, hushed conversation. Now that got his attention. The guard walked over and seconds later a small cloud of smoke enveloped Polly's station, knocking the poor owl out cold.

"Y'er sure as hell ain't Jones." He said as the fake guard approached.

"Officer Jones has the night off." The figure's hat and hood were drawn low over his face, and slick with rain.

"Really? Ain't that a shame. His lullabies are the only thing that gets me ta sleep on night's like this."

"Ain't that a shame..." He repeated. "Maybe this will help." A small card landed in his lap and he picked it up to look at it in the dull light.

"Well I'll be... I should have tried pigeons years ago." He muttered to himself before looking up at the fake guard and narrowing his eyes. "This supposed ta mean something to me pal?"

"Depends. You the same James _Big Jim_ McSweeney who's been trying to get the attention of Sly Cooper for the past four weeks?" The guard pulled the hood back to reveal a young raccoon. Approximate age for Conner and Marie's kid, same eyes, same hair, but you could never be too careful when in a situation like this.

"Ya mean am I the same Big Jim McSweeney who ran with the _original_ Cooper gang? Who bounced a little snot nose named Sly on his knee for two years between jobs?"

"Yeah, that would be the one." The raccoon's eyes narrowed and his tail flicked behind him.

"Well... Maybe I am, maybe I ain't, but how do I know y'er not some ambitious wanna be with a forged calling card and a big mouth? So here's what we're gonna do." He held up a hand to show a tattoo of a building. "If y're a real Cooper I don't even have to ask the question." The raccoon stared at his hand for several minutes before he started getting impatient. "Look kid I don't got all night."

The racoon gave him a desperate look. "It's right there, I can feel it please just-"

"I said no. We're done. Ya had yer one chance, take yer phony card and get out while ya still can, cause trust me, breakin' outta here is a lot harder than breakin' in. Not that a real Cooper would have that problem." He'd barely finished his sentence before the cold hook of a cane was being shoved under his chin, hooking on his remaining unbroken tusk.

"You're lucky I'm the real Sly Cooper, any other thief would have torn your tusks out by now. Enough games. I want answers!"

"Look kid I don't know who ya think ya are but-"

"I'm Sly Cooper! My father was Connor, my mother was Marie, I'm an only kid. My full name is Sylvester Thaddeus Winslow Cooper. My parents settled down on the Ligurian Coast in Italy and stayed there until the day they died in 1992 when I was eight years old! I have a mild allergy to fish, I snack on pistachios just like my old man, I can't swim because water terrifies me, I still have nightmares about the night Clockwerk attacked and I wanted to be a pirate when I was little! What more do you want from me?" McSweeney was a little taken back by the sudden rush of information but he quickly wrapped his head around what Sly was saying. "My mother grew fresh vegetables and herbs in her garden, she wore a rose perfume I can still smell today if I sit and think about it hard enough, and she played one song on the piano, only the one song and -"

"Alright, that's enough! Kid calm down." He said. "I believe you, geeze..." Sly blushed a little and looked down at the floor.

"Sorry..."

"No, no it's my fault... But ya can't be too careful." He wheezed a cough and winced. "How long until that powder you gave the nurse wears off?"

"We have twenty minutes left, tops."

"Then sit... we have a lot to talk about and time ain't exactly on either of our sides." He nodded and took a seat in the chair by the bed. "Now... What do you know about the Cooper Vault?"

* * *

Okie dokie guys, that's the end of chapter one! Let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2 The map

Welcome back guys! Here's chapter two! Thanks for the great response on chapter one I was really surprised! You guys are the best! I don't know what else to say so I'll just let you get to the chapter.

* * *

Sly narrowed his eyes at the aging walrus before him. "The Cooper Vault?" He asked. His father had never mentioned anything like that.

McSweeney nodded. "Yeah." He coughed again and sighed. "Damn lungs..." He hissed. "Boy, I hope you end up going peacefully." He sighed. "Not many Coopers got that chance accordin' to that book o' yours." Sly looked down and nodded.

"Yeah. Not many did."

"Your pop... He deserved better than he got. He was a good man." He shifted, sitting up a bit more. "We had a good run... Me and him and that nerdy little baboon..." Sly bit his tongue not to correct the slur. "He was an interesting little fellow... But that's beside the point. Your pop, he knew things were changin' when your mama joined us. She literally fell outta the sky, like a bird, just crash landed on him. Turned out she'd been runnin from the cops and had a ruby your pop had had his eye on. The day she joined our little gang everything changed. Your pop, he fell hard and fast for that pretty little thing, and as he did he started talkin' about settlin' down. Hangin' up his cane. That's when he started talkin' 'bout the Cooper Vault."

"You keep saying that like I'm supposed to know what it is." Sly grumbled.

"I'm gettin' ta it ya little runt." He huffed. "Settle yer horses. Ain't ya ever wondered where yer family fortune went? What happened ta all that loot yer family collected?"

"Well yeah but-"

"But nothin'!" McSweeney held up the tattooed hand again. "Think boy, I know ya ain't dumb if ya made it this far."

"It's... It's a museum. In Italy, on the coast near where we lived."

"That's it." McSweeney said with a nod. "Good ta hear ya remember it. That was the last time I saw yer pop. Call me sentimental, but I thought that might be a good place ta hide a map before turnin' myself in and takin' up a... permanent residence here."

"A map?"

"Ta the vault boy. Pay attention." He coughed for a solid minute before he caught his breath and gave Sly a small glare. "I ain't got much talkin' left in me tonight. Look, the map'll guide ya to the island. The island with the vault. Yer pop took us there once and trusted me with the map before he died. Now I think it's time ya went and claimed yer inheritance."

Sly took a moment to process the information before nodding. "Where did you leave it?"

"In the museum, I left clues... The vase, the statue, the painting." Sly nodded again and stood, pulling the hood up again.

"Then I'll make you and dad proud. Thank's McSweeney. I'll visit again and we can-"

"No! Ya leave and ya stay away. Don't risk yer legacy fer me. Ya still have heists to pull and ya can't pull them if yer in here. Now go, before the guards wise up." He shooed him away.

Sly begrudgingly left, hurrying out of the room and down the hall, keeping his head down and mulling over the information he'd just received. Getting out was slightly more difficult than getting in had been. He had to cut across the yard and climb the exterior of the building before using several power lines to get over the wall. Josie was parked half a mile down the road, and he ditched the guard uniform on the side of the road as he climbed in the old volkswagen they'd stolen.

"Find out everything you needed?" She asked as she shifted the car out of park and started down the long dark road.

"I did. How do you feel about a return trip to Italy?" She smirked.

"I'd love one."

* * *

Josie chewed on her lip as she looked over the map of the museum again. She shook her head and sighed, holstering her shock pistol and looking at Sly.

"This is crazy. You know that right? We're gonna get caught."

"We don't exactly have much of a choice now do we?" Sly sighed. "Tris is MIA and Bentley's still in the hospital. We're on our own for now." Josie grumbled but nodded, tucking the map away in her pocket.

"Let's get this over with then." She said, tugging on her jacket and rolling up the sleeves. "One map to a secret island coming right up."

Sly laughed and gave her a kiss. "For good luck." He teased. She chuckled and nodded.

"For good luck." They slipped from their hotel room and made their way to the museum, keeping quiet and low profile. "The cameras will see us before we even get close to our target." She murmured.

"Then we'll have to be quick."

"Or..."

"Or?"

"Or we could use this to our advantage. Intentionally trigger the alarm, let Carmelita and Liam get the map and then steal it from them after we go get Bentley." Sly smirked.

"Stealing it from them would be easier than stealing it from the museum anyway." He said. "Trip the alarm early, take our time, get caught on camera..."

"Think you're a good enough actor to make it look like our plan went sideways?" She asked. Sly grinned.

"You know I am." She nodded and they climbed up onto the roof. Josie knelt and picked the lock on the roof access.

"Ready to trip some alarms?" He nodded and she pulled open the door, walking inside with him. Slipping down to the ground floor they ducked behind several pillars.

He sighed and flicked his tail, poking his head around the corner of the pillar. "McSweeney said the first clue was on that vase." He said, gesturing to the ancient Roman vase. He was about to leave cover when Joise darted ahead of him, crossing her arms over her chest and frowning, her tail flicking as if she was was upset.

"I think this will be more believable if they think we're arguing." She said. Sly smirked and nodded. He walked out from behind the pillar and glared at her.

"The vase is supposed to have figures pointing in the direction we need to go." He said, waving his arms a little before glancing at the vase and storming off in the direction the figures pointed. She rolled her eyes and followed him to the statute of a walrus that looked a lot like McSweeney was pointing to a wall of paintings.

"Oh isn't that fantastic... Which painting?" She grumbled. He shook his head.

"All he said was that it was a famous painting of - Thaddeus Winslow Cooper the first!" Sly's eyes lit up and he ran up to the painting as he pulled it off the wall. Josie walked up and sighed, crossing her arms again. The alarm startled him and he dropped the painting in surprise, earning a fake groan from Josie.

"Look what you did!" She snapped, turning to the door as the guards ran into the room. "Sly we've gotta go!" She grabbed his arm, pulling him away from the canvas he was trying to get free of the broken frame without damaging it. Sly begrudgingly left it and they bolted out the nearest exit.

* * *

"Trouble in paradise, eh Cooper?" Liam smirked at the video surveillance of the museum heist. "A year later and you finally realize she's nuts and only out to break your heart huh?"

"Projecting much, Rowe?" Carmelita asked with a smirk.

"You shut up..."

"Make me." She stood and rewound the tape. "They're clearly arguing about something... They both look pissed."

"And it's all over this stupid painting of some fluffed up victorian snob..." He rolled his eyes as he tossed aside the canvas from the crime scene.

"One of Cooper's ancestors. But that can't be the only reason he went after this if it was then he'd be hitting museums all around the world with Cooper family artifacts." She frowned. "There's something about this one in particular. I'll order a full work up in the morning." She laid down on the couch and sighed. "Order Chinese food if you get hungry, I need a nap." Liam smirked and shook his head.

"Whatever. I'm going out for coffee. I'll be back in an hour." He put the evidence in the safe, grabbed the keys and walked out, leaving her alone. By the time he got back she was out like a light with a case file on her chest, and a cup of the crappy office coffee on the floor by the couch, which her hand had happened to dip into. He chuckled and carefully arranged her so she was more comfortable, tucking a blanket up to her chin. He sat down at the desk and kicked his feet up before frowning. The window was open, and as he looked around there were other oddities. The safe was ajar, the evidence box from Italy was sitting on the desk, open, and there was an empty evidence bag on the counter beside it. No... it wasn't empty, there was a little blue card inside.

"Cooper!" He growled.

* * *

Sly was sitting on the roof and smirked as he heard Liam wake Carmelita, and then the fox's enraged scream. He cackled silently, much to Josie's amusement.

"You enjoy that too much." She said as he stood and started walking along the ledge.

"Maybe, but it's fun!" He grinned lopsidedly and she laughed.

"Alright, alright, I'll give you that one, it is fun." He grinned and offered his arm.

"Shall we my dear? Our dear friend is just waiting for us to come rescue him."

She giggled. "Let's go get Bentley back." She said with a firm nod.

* * *

Alright guys that's it for chapter two. I'll see you again soon for chapter 3!


	3. Chapter 3 Rescuing Bentley

Sorry for not posting this sooner guys! I got a little busy. Anyway I hope you enjoy this one!

* * *

"Relax Sly, it's not a big deal you look great by the way." Josie smirked, and held up her hands to take in Sly's get up. She'd taken quite a bit of knowledge from Aline in the disguise department and had managed to transform Sly. Sort of. He'd been forced to ditch the mask, which helped a little, and Josie had put him in the fakest, cheapest, platinum blond-est wig she could find to distract from his rougher features. Her favorite red lipstick, some mascara and eyeliner and a stuffed bras later and Sly passed for a very strongly featured woman. "A skirt and some heels and no one would ever know."

Sly gave her a dry look and rolled his eyes. "We discussed this, no skirt."

"Awww, but you're such a fun doll." She teased, tossing him a pair of scrubs. "Just put on the scrubs and let's get going. We don't have a whole lot of time. The shift change is in fifteen minutes and we're two blocks away." She pulled on her own scrubs and adjusted her red wig. "You think if I wear a hat I can pass for a cat?" She asked, tail flicking as she examined her appearance for any flaw that could get them caught by the security measures.

"I don't know you made me paint my tail so I look like a skunk." He grumbled. True the stripes weren't completely even but she was rather proud of her handy work. Of course Aline could have done it better but she was busy and had kind of dropped off Josie's radar.

Sly pulled on the pink scrubs with a mild grimace. Pink was not his color. "Next time we have to do this can I maybe get purple or something?" He asked, earning a laugh from Josie.

"There's going to be a next time?" She chuckled.

"In this line of work you never know." He shrugged, adjusting his wig a little. "Alright, enough fussing and whining let's get Bentley out of there." She nodded in agreement and walked with him to the hospital. There were several blatant cops outside along with at least a dozen undercover cops as well. They gave her and Sly suspicious looks but didn't try to stop them. After all they didn't fit the descriptions of the pair they were looking for.

"Evening." Josie said, nodding to one of the officers. "Keep up the good work." She winked before walking inside. Sly rolled his eyes a little at her.

"Really?" He grumbled.

"Oh hush. Bentley's in room 318, third floor." She slipped into an elevator and pressed the button, trying to look like she was in a hurry. Sly stuck close, doing the same, looking at his nails which Josie had painted a dark red.

"You know you did a really good job with these." He said.

"I lived with four other women for years. I got practice." She smirked, as the doors opened and she stepped into the hall. "Come on this way." She walked down to Bentley's room and took a deep breath, she wasn't quite sure what to expect. The guard outside the door was out like a light, snoring softly. She rolled her eyes and slipped inside with Sly.

"I've already had my sponge bath for today, thank you, please inform the other nurses that I will not be needing another until tomorrow at two." Bentley said, not looking up from his laptop and papers. Josie raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Well that's a relief." She smirked, folding her arms over her chest. She chuckled at his shocked expression as he looked over.

"You're not my nurse..."

"Wow I did a better job than I thought." He frowned and narrowed his eyes at them.

"Who are you?"

"Hey Wizard." Sly said, pulling the wig off his head, and smirking.

"Sly? Josie? What are you two doing here?" He hissed with wide eyes. "Are you two insane?"

"We came to get you out of here Bentley." Josie said.

"No! Guys I've told you a hundred times this past year, I can't join up with the gang again. I'll just slow you down and get us all arrested next time. So no. It's not happening. I'm not leaving."

"See that's where you're wrong. Come on Bentley we need you!" Sly said. "If we'd had you we could have gotten the painting without having to steal it from Carmelita and Liam after botching the museum job on purpose."

"A painting? Honestly?" Bentley rolled his eyes. "Why a painting? We don't steal petty pieces."

"There's a map Bentley."

"A map. A map to what?"

"To my family fortune!" Sly grinned and handed him the carefully rolled painting. "Plus a family heirloom, but that's beside the point. Bentley, we're talking centuries of Cooper Family wealth! It's quite possibly the treasure of the century!" Bentley took the painting and unrolled it, looking over the map.

"Hmmm, very interesting..." He said, adjusting his glasses and gently tracing the lines of the map. "It's obviously an island..." He set it aside and started pulling up other maps on his lap top.

"Uh... Bentley... Think we could do this at the hideout?" Josie asked as she spotted the cameras in the room and heard the guards gathering outside. "Because we're about to have a fight on our hands." Sly glanced out the tiny window on the door and cursed.

"Should have kept the wig on. Let's go. You get his laptop and the painting, I'll take Bentley, we'll get him a wheelchair later." She nodded and grabbed the items, along with as many of the papers as she could, stuffing them all into her backpack as Sly scooped up Bentley and dove towards the window, just as the guards burst through the door. Josie smirked and leapt out the window after Sly. They landed in the window washer and went down, running as fast as they could from the hospital to their hideout.

* * *

Once Bentley was settled the hideout and had access to the full depths of the internet once more, he set to work on pinpointing the island located on the map, and Sly went out to find a wheelchair for him. Josie stayed with Bentley, using her laptop to aid in the search.

"The map says it's called Kaine Island. Using that I've found only a couple of hits. An island in the south pacific under that name was bought by a Dr. Mandrill." Bentley said.

"Mandrill... Why is that familiar?" Josie asked, frowning at her computer screen.

"You mean besides being a species of monkey?" He deadpanned with a dry look and a judgmentally raised eyebrow.

"Yes besides that!" She snapped, glaring at him. "Does it have a first name?"

"Dr. Reginald Mandrill."

"Yes! That's the guy who ran with Sly's dad. He was, well he was their you." She chuckled. "He dropped off the grid just before Sly's parents were killed." Bentley frowned and started doing research on the guy.

"If he owns the island it can't be a coincidence." He said.

"I doubt getting to that treasure is going to be as easy as walking up and claiming it." She sighed. Bentley pulled up a satellite image of the island and paled.

"No... No it's not..." He said, voice cracking a little.

Josie looked at the image and froze, dropping her mug of coffee and barely noticing as the lukewarm liquid splashed over the floor and her foot. "Oh my god..." She whispered. "Is that the island?"

"That... is a fortress. And I have no idea how we're going to get in. I need to see it in person. But I can tell you right now, it's gonna take more than the three of us to get anywhere near the treasure."

She swore and hung her head. This was not going to be easy.

* * *

A week later they were on a small island not far from Kaine island, hidden in the thick jungle and observing the walled in fortress.

"Dude this guy is paranoid." Josie grumbled as she peered through her binocucom. "I've seen third world dictators who knew assassins were after them with less security!"

"I don't see a way in. How does he get supplies?" Bentley muttered, mostly to himself, rubbing his chin as he sat back in his chair

"There are genetically enhanced mutants on the walls and you're interested in how he gets supplies?" Josie deadpanned with a smirk. "Who are you and what have you done with our Bentley?"

"Oh har har..." Bentley rolled his eyes and pushed his chair forward a little, trying to get a better angle. "The mutants are the least of our problems." He said. "Spotlights, turrets, and I'm almost positive that's a storm machine." He pointed to a large shape in the sky. "Bottom line, we'll need more than just the three of us to get in there. And look, you can just see the vault door way up there." It was true, the vault door was located high above the main ground of the fortress. "This is going to take an army of world class thieves... and I don't have the foggiest where to start on this puzzle. I need another brain to bounce ideas and calculations off of."

"Sorry bud but Tris is MIA, we haven't heard from her in weeks." Josie said.

"Then we need to find her." He said, rolling back towards their campsite and their rented boat. Sly nodded in agreement. "Her hacking skills are... somewhat better than my own. If we're going to get the blueprints, or past half that security we're gonna need her expertise."

* * *

Alright here we go! Off to find Tris! I'll see you guys soon with the next chapter!


	4. Chapter 4 The Rain-Forest

Hey there my lovely readers! I bring chapter four to you. I hope you guys enjoy it!

* * *

"It's strange you're the second person to check on her in the past two months. Before that not a single visitor in the whole year she'd lived here." The wrinkled old peahen said as she led Josie up the stairs to the third floor of Tris' flat.

"Some one else came to check up on her?" Josie asked. "Do you remember who it was?"

"Yes... A very pretty but rather bossy and rude fox woman. Spanish accent... She was only here for a few minutes before she left."

Josie grimaced. That sure sounded like Carmelita had tried to bust Tris just after she disappeared. She thanked the landlady as she let her into Tris' tiny apartment and quickly closed the door before she started looking around. The place was almost entirely empty. The bed was made, the dresser cleaned out completely, and not a single crumb of food left in the tiny kitchen. She frowned and walked over to the only remaining item, a single laptop carefully left on the coffee table. It was plugged in still, and when she opened it she found it was set up to play a video.

" _Josie, I had to go off grid for a while. If you need me for anything, I'll be in Egypt."_ Tris' ear flicked in the video and Josie smirked. A misdirect. Tris would never leave a message flat out saying where she was going. She left the recording playing as she stood and looked around the room again, finding a small painting of Egypt hanging on the far wall over the bed.

"Old school." She mused with an approving nod.

" _I'm tracking a lead on a possible job. High risk."_ Josie examined the painting carefully and found several numbers hidden among the artwork. " _Do not tell Cooper about this. For his own sake, only contact me if absolutely necessary."_

She paused and looked over at the yellow cased laptop with a frown. What could be dangerous enough not to tell Sly about? She pulled the painting off the wall and set it aside so she could insert the code for the safe hidden behind it. Inside was a small device with a red flashing light, a map, and a rather thick folder.

"Oh Tris what did you get yourself into?" She asked softly as she pulled the flashing device out of the safe. "Bentley, Sly we have a problem..." She said, opening communication with the pair.

* * *

"So this thing is a distress beacon and Tris has activated it meaning, she's in trouble?" Sly asked.

"Exactly. And it's been on for three days." She said as she plugged it into the laptop Tris had left and a program showed exactly how long it had been since the device had been activated. "Her landlady said she left almost a month ago on what Tris called a business trip."

"So where is she really?" Josie pressed a key on the laptop and it pulled up a map and a pinpoint deep in the Amazon rainforest. "Oh... Great..."

"What's she doing all the way out there?" Bentley asked. She sighed, pulling out the folder.

"You're not gonna like it Sly." She said softly earning a frown from him. He took the folder and nearly dropped it when he saw what was inside.

"Raleigh." He snarled. "That slimy frog escaped from prison?"

"During that riot at Heathrow a few months ago apparently."

"And Tris went after him alone?"

"That's... that's what it seems like." He swore and set the file down.

"Then we're gonna need a guide. Bentley how's the work on your chair coming along?"

"Just fine Sly. I can be ready for the field in, two days tops."

"That gives us just enough time to get a flight, a guide and pack. Josie, you go over Tris' notes, you're the one who knows her best, see if she left us any more clues, Bentley you work on your chair and I'll make sure everything else is taken care of." Josie and Bentley nodded and they all split up to get everything ready.

* * *

Two days after leaving Paris they were fighting through the thick jungle. Bentley's modifications to his chair included thick tires to give him the traction he needed to get over the underbrush, and plenty of gadgets to get through anything in his path. Sly walked with their guide, a jaguar man who had come highly recommended, named Manuel.

"This is an odd place for a camp." He commented. Sly nodded and checked the tracker position. It hadn't moved, since they'd found it. Josie sighed, adjusting her pack and chewing on her bottom lip as she walked.

"How much further?" She asked, feeling horribly nervous.

"Four miles." Sly called over his shoulder to her, pausing for a moment to pass the small pad computer to their guide. Manuel took it and checked it against his own maps.

"Two miles, Mr. Cooper." He said. "I can get us there in two miles."

"Perfect." Sly nodded, smiling at Josie. "She's going to be fine you know." He said in hushed tones so only she could hear him.

She forced a smile and stopped chewing on her lip. "Thank's Rings, but don't make promises you can't keep."

"Oh come on, it's Tris. She knows what she's doing."

"Sly, she activated her distress button a week ago!" She said. "She could have been hurt, or worse dying!"

"If that had been the case she would have found a way to contact us, satellites or something." She sighed and shook her head.

"I'm not getting my hopes up." Sly took her hand and kissed it.

"I understand."

After a few more miles they came to a small clearing along the banks of a small river. Josie gasped in horror as they came to a stop. Tris' camp was trashed. What little equipment she'd brought along was crushed, a jumble of wires and plastic, her tents were torn and leaning awkwardly, and there was a fair amount of dried blood beside the crushed remains of one of her shock batons. Josie ran over and picked up the small blinking panic button, sinking to her knees in the sand and gravel.

Sly walked over and put a hand on her shoulder, kneeling beside her.

"Oh Sly... It's worse than I thought..." She said softly, tears welling in her eyes as she picked up the fragments of shattered plastic that was Tris' batton.

Sly stayed quiet as she quietly sobbed, her shoulder shaking under his hand. Bentley rolled through the camp, frowning. There wasn't much left if he was being honest and it was starting to rain again.

"Guys we don't have much to go on here." He said with a sigh.

Sly gave him a slight glare and hugged Josie a bit closer. She clutched the broken baton pieces to her chest. "If she's dead, Raleigh won't make it to prison again." She hissed, ears falling against her head as she glared at the ground. She got up and looked over the tent. "There has to be something."

"I'm sorry Josie but... It's been a week in the rain-forest, there's nothing here." She furiously scrubbed at the tears on her cheeks and tucked away the broken pieces in her pack. "I might be able to get something off her computers, but they're pretty waterlogged and broken." Bentley sighed, starting to collect parts off the rocky beach. Josie started to help.

It happened so fast Josie barely had a chance to react. Frogs burst from the water, the undergrowth, hell a couple appeared out of the sand and rocks. They struck hard and fast. One tackled poor Manuel who wasn't much of a fighter, another tripped up Sly, a third went for Bentley knocking him out of his chair, and a fourth knocked Josie down and pointed a gun at her.

"Well... that happened..." She said softly.

* * *

So our first big bad villain is revealed. Who's excited? I'm excited! Tell me what you guys think about this development.


	5. Chapter 5 Rescuing Tris

Hey guys! We're almost caught up to my pre-prepared chapters already... So things might slow down a little, but don't worry I'm still working on it.

* * *

Josie had kicked, screamed and fought with everything she had, that however had not been enough to fight off the five rather large frogs as they dragged her from the destroyed camp. Bentley had been knocked unconscious in his fall from his chair, Manuel was looking positively terrified and Sly... Josie had only ever seen the look on his face once before, when the Contessa's men had walked them out of the jungle. It was a dangerous look, where his eyes darkened and his whole body took on a threatening and aggressive posture as he walked. He glared at their guards and his tail lashed behind him.

They were walked from a jungle into a huge blimp. Sly stared at in horror. It was just like Raleigh's old storm machine, but much, much bigger. Their frog captors dragged them inside and down to the lowest deck where they were throw into a cell.

"Josie?" Tris scrambled to her feet and ran over, hugging her tight. Josie hugged her tight, tears starting to spill down her cheeks.

"Tris... I was so worried." She said softly. Tris winced, trying to keep her pain silent as Josie pulled back. Josie gasped as she looked her over, horror filling her eyes. "Oh my God... this is... this is worse than I thought." She said. Tris was covered in cuts and bruises.

"I'm fine. Four escape attempts got me most of this. The rest is that slime trying to get information out of me." She rolled her eyes. "They broke my glasses a couple days ago. I can barely see a thing."

"What information?"

"He found out I worked with Sly and wanted information on him." Sly looked up and sighed.

"I'm so sorry Tris." He said softly.

"It's alright Sly, if I could make it through a month long interrogation by El Jefe, I can survive a few scratches and bruises from some rich boy punk who thinks he's tough." She smirked. "He hits like a toddler with a stuffed animal."

He chuckled and shook his head. "If you say so..."

A bunch of grey mechanic jumpsuits were tossed into the cell and Josie frowned. "I am not going to put that on." She grimaced.

"If you don't change you don't eat." Tris said, speaking from experience.

"Good thing I had second breakfast."

"Okay, Josie, let me rephrase this, if you don't change none of us will eat." Josie grumbled and quickly pulled on the jumpsuit. Sly and Manuel followed suit and then Sly gently woke Bentley with some help from Josie.

"Wha... Where?" Bentley adjusted his cracked glasses and looked around in confusion. Sly gently helped him sit up.

"Easy there pal. Raleigh's goons got the jump on us and you hit your head on a rock when you fell from you chair."

"Where are we?" He frowned, looking around at the brass walls and corrugated floor on which he was sitting. The wall to their left was lined with bare mattressed bunks. The door was simple bars and yet the room still had a screen of hazy steam in it. They were all drenched.

"Inside Raleigh's new weather machine." Tris said.

Bentley was silent for a moment. "Where's my chair?"

"Yeah... they took that as soon they saw your computer and explosives cache." Josie said, standing up and sighing.

"Great..." He grumbled, dragging himself to the wall and leaning against it.

"What did I get myself into?" Manuel asked quietly.

Tris' focus landed on him for the first time and she raised an eyebrow. "Who is this?"

"Our guide." Sly said. "I'm so sorry you got caught up in this Manuel."

Manuel ran a hand through his dark hair. "No, no... I've always managed to find a way to get myself into trouble." He shook his head. "So... what do we do?"

"First thing's first we have to get out of this cell." Josie said. The others nodded in agreement.

"And find my chair." Bentley added. "And our weapons."

"My main laptop..." Tris said.

"Stop whatever Raleigh is planning." Sly said, getting up and going over to the cell door to examine it. "So, Tris, you've been in here a week, you must have a plan to get out."

"Well if I could fit through that vent I'd be out of here already." She grumbled, gesturing to a small air duct. The ship lurched and she sighed. "Take off, we're in the air again." She said.

"I don't do so well in the air..." Manuel said weakly, already looking a touch green. Josie gave him a sympathetic look and hesitantly patted his shoulder.

Tris stood as they leveled out and walked to the cell door. A guard, a lanky yellow poison dart frog, stood just outside the door facing the hall and looking bored. She waved Josie over and the ferret quietly caught on to what she wanted. The keys, dangling on his belt.

She stretched through the bars as far as she could, gently picking the keys off his belt and beating a hasty retreat to their small group. She grinned, rather proud of herself.

"Shift change is in two hours. In my last escape attempt I noticed a perfect place for us to hide but was being pursued so was unable to use it." Tris whispered. "I'll lead you to it."

* * *

The hiding place Tris had found was small. Cramped for the five of them, but they weren't complaining too much. It was a far cry better than a cell. Josie sat down on the floor with the others and they silently waited, praying the guards would stop searching soon.

"What's our first move?" Sly asked softly.

"We need our equipment first." Tris said. "They can't have taken our things far."

"So Sly and I will go looking for them." Josie said, getting up and pressing her ear to the door to listen for the sound of the guards. Sly nodded. "You go right, I'll take left, we meet back here in twenty minutes whether we've found our things or not."

"Agreed." He grabbed her hand as she started to leave. "Be careful." He whispered, pulling her into a kiss. She smiled and nodded.

"I always am." She promised before slipping out of their hideout and starting down the hall to the left. The halls were too open and she felt exposed walking through them. She slipped into a closet as she heard some guards, pressing an ear to the door to listen.

"The boss is in such a good mood..." One guard said. "Do you think it has to do with the prisoners?"

"Probably. Did you see the tech on that chair? The boss looked like a kid on christmas."

"No I didn't where is it?"

"Down in the lab. Man you have to see it before the boss pulls it apart." Josie smirked a little and waited until they passed to slip out of her hiding place and look around for some direction. Following signs, arrows and lines on the floor she eventually made it down to the lab.

"Jackpot." She grinned, grabbing Bentley's chair first, then the rest of their equipment, including Tris' laptop, before quickly rolling it all back to their hideout.

Bentley and Tris handed out ear pieces and got their equipment set up quickly before sending Sly and Josie back out to gather information.

* * *

Sly walked up to the top deck, silent and stoic. So he was on the ship of one of his mortal enemies... He'd faced and beat the slime once he could do it again. Not to mention he had even more help this time than he did the first time. He kept calm and quiet, his eyes locked on the mission ahead. That was his only hope to get through this with his head still on his shoulders.

He could hear Bentley talking in his ear but honestly he wasn't paying attention. Not even slightly. Blah, blah, technical babble, blah, blah... He paused and climbed up to the window of Raleigh's office, a frown forming on his face. Inside that office was not the squat, fat, little frog Sly remembered. No this frog was tall, lanky and yet, atop his head was Raleigh's signature hat. He leaned on a cane, his legs so skinny Sly wondered if they wouldn't snap under the frog's weight, and the breathing apparatus on his back.

Raleigh pulled a pair of goggles off and walked over to a vat of bubbling purple ooze, leaning over it and adding in a vial of something yellow. "Ahh, my serum is nearly complete." He said, his once smooth voice had a rasp to it, made only worse by his new respirator. "Soon this... reprehensible abomination of a body will no longer plague me." He gingerly sat down, taking a deep rasping breath. "I'll be free..."

" _...Sly? ...Sly! Did you hear me? What's going on?"_ Sly shook his head as Bentley shouted in his ear.

"Sorry Bentley... I found our," He smirked. "Host."

" _Raleigh?"_

"Yeah, yeah, and he's not lookin' too good." Raleigh did look pretty sickly, pale and shaky.

" _Get some pictures..."_ Sly nodded and snapped several pictures of the frog, the vat, Raleigh's breathing apparatus. He frowned again, this just didn't fit his memories of Raleigh. Of course the last time he'd faced him, the frog had been trying to crush him by bloating to gargantuan size.

He wrinkled his nose at the memory and started back down to the hideout when another memory hit him so hard he thought he'd been physically struck.

" _Kill him and get it over with. We have the book, what do we need him for?"_ His knees hit the corrugated deck and his chest seized, making breathing impossible.

" _No! He must suffer."_ A few tears spilled down his cheeks and he clenched his cane tighter.

" _Please, my son..."_

" _ **Sly!"**_ He gasped, sucking in as much air as he possibly could as Josie's voice broke through the sudden raging storm in his head. " _ **Sly answer us!"**_

"I'm back... I'm back..." He gasped, lungs aching as he shoved himself to his feet and started walking again, leaning against the wall.

" _ **What the hell happened?"**_ She asked nervously.

"Sorry, just... caught up in my head. I'm fine now." He brushed away a few stray tears and cleared his throat. "I'll be right down."

* * *

"I don't like the looks of this guys." Bentley said as he looked over the pictures Sly and Josie had taken.

"Me either. This can't be good." Tris said.

"This blimp is clearly a larger scale version of Raleigh's last storm machine... something this big might be strong enough to produce full blown hurricanes. We have to shut it down."

"Agreed." Tris grabbed the pictures of the vat. "Any theories on what this is?" She asked.

"He said something about it changing his body... Maybe it's what changed his appearance like this." Sly said, gesturing to the photographs of Raleigh.

"We need a sample. And we need to start breaking down this machine." Bentley said.

"Luckily I was able to acquire a blueprint." Tris smirked. "We can get started right away."

* * *

Alright! I'll see you guys soon with the next chapter!


	6. Chapter 6 Private Log Loading

Okay my dear readers I am so, so very sorry about the wait. I hit a bit of a wall and have been struggling on getting past it.

* * *

Sly leapt out of the way of a piston, narrowly avoiding losing his tail, and sighed as he wiped some sweat off his forehead.

"Are you sure this is the way I need to go?" He asked, trying to keep his voice level.

" _Yes, the blueprints say that's the only way into Raleigh's office."_ Tris said in his ear.

"Through a death gauntlet?"

" _Sorry Sly but that's the only way."_

"If I lose my tail I'm blaming you." He could hear Josie snickering on the other line and he huffed a little before continuing on deeper into the death vents.

Lasers, pistons, every trap a mad genius could concoct. He nearly lost his tail, toes and both ears more than once by the time he finally made it to Raleigh's office. He grumbled to himself as he crawled from the vent, brushing dust and rust from his clothes and fur with a sigh.

"Okay, where am I supposed to put the bug?" He asked, looking around the room

" _Swap the painting behind the desk and then grab a sample from that vat. If you can get the painting back here without damaging it I can sell it and make us some extra cash."_ He nodded and quickly swapped the painting, grimacing a little at the picture of Raleigh before looking over at the bubbling vat. His tail flicked and he carefully extracted a small sample of the purple ooze in the vat.

"Ugh, this stuff smells rancid. Like a landfill..." He gagged. No wonder Raleigh was wearing a mask. Mz. Ruby's waterfall of bones and rotten body parts had smelled less horrendous. His ear twitched and he glanced at the door in panic as he heard someone coming and he dove under a table just as Raleigh walked in, leaning heavily on his cane.

The frog grumbled, hissing as he sat down. "Damn joints..." Sly bit his tongue as Raleigh's temper gave out and he sent papers and glass vials flying off his desk with a shout of rage. Curses spilled from his lips before he fell back against his chair, clearly exhausted by his sudden outburst. "Three ingredients... Three and my syerum will be complete." He sighed and stood, limping to a com unit. "Helmsman are we on course?"

" _ **Aye Captain."**_

"Good. Wake me when we arrive at our next stop."

" _ **I'll send a crew member down upon our arrival."**_ Raleigh nodded and walked to his cot, his breathing raspy as he settled down to sleep. Sly waited a good half an hour before he dared move. He moved back to the death gauntlet air vent and took a deep breath before slipping back through it.

* * *

Tris was exhausted. She hadn't eaten properly in almost a week, barely slept in that length of time, and was now up at the ridiculous hour four in the morning because it was the only safe time to go out and hack Raleigh's network. She rubbed her eyes, adjusting her glasses with a rather annoyed sigh as she stared at the screen in front of her with bloodshot eyes, her avatar half dead because all the movement was making her eyes hurt and causing them to unfocus.

" _Tris are you awake?"_ Bentley's voice startled her and she very nearly screamed as she snapped out of the light sleep she'd fallen into.

"I'm fine. I'm up!" She said, looking around in panic.

" _Are you sure you don't want me to do this job? I can be down there in less than a minute..."_

"No, I'm fine honest Bentley. I just fell asleep for a moment." A moment long enough to destroy her avatar and force her to start the hack on this terminal all over again. She groaned and shook her head to wake up a little more.

" _Tris you need sleep... Come back to the hideout. I'll finish up."_

"I said no!" She snapped before she sighed. "Sorry Bentley. I just... I want to do this." The other line was quiet for a long moment.

" _If you insist then..."_ She nodded to herself and then returned her focus to the avatar on the screen as she restarted the hack.

Seeing the system crack open and spill its secrets sent a rush of pride through her. She dug deeper, searching for any kind of record on her capture to find out how exactly they'd found her. She'd chosen the Amazon not because Raleigh was there, but because it was remote, hard to track people through and she could be completely alone with no interference from locals or more importantly cops.

 **Log Entry;**

 **January, 6, 2006:**

 **Subject; Captured Spy**

 **After being alerted to a foreign entity in our system (Informant: Unknown, unable to trace) the captain ordered us to follow the signal back to it's source. After nearly two months of searching, following the bouncing signal from Bombay to Kentucky we finally found the person responsible. We landed the ship just up river and sent our best guards to find and capture them. What they returned with was an otter woman (Later discovered to be named Tris), with considerable technologies. She put up a rather strong fight, having laid traps that incapacitated six men, and taking out three others with her strength alone. However numbers won out and her computers, several of which were marked by a symbol the captain seemed familiar with, were taken along with her. The rest of her equipment was broken should she have others with her that were not present at the time of her capture. We will remain here for a week to resupply at the city up river and find the ingredient the captain needs from this region before taking flight and setting course to Tibet for the third to last ingredient we've been searching for.**

 **End of log.**

 **Loading next log in sequence...**

Tris grimaced as she read through the log she'd needed, swearing under her breath rather violently. "Damn it... I knew I covered my tracks! I knew there was no way they found me on their own! Someone knew I was looking into this." She disconnected from the system and slipped her laptop back into her bag. "Bentley, Someone knew I was looking into Raleigh and informed him of my worm code."

" _How is that possible? No one but the gang even knew you'd gone off grid."_

"That's what I want to know. No one should have known where to find me unless they went to my flat like Josie did."

" _I'll dig through the system and see if I can find any information on the tipster."_

"I'm headed to the next console now."

" _Sounds good. Be careful."_

"I will." She nodded, despite knowing that he couldn't see her.

The next console went much quicker. She was much more awake now.

 **Personal Log Entry;**

 **January, 2, 2006:**

 **Subject; Our Serum**

 **It's been Eight months since we escaped from that wretched prison and six months since we started developing our growth serum. Today I test it on myself and finally this pathetic weak body will no longer plague me...**

 **End of personal log.**

 **Loading next log in sequence...**

 **Personal Log Entry;**

 **January, 2, 2006:**

 **Subject; Failure**

 **The serum failed. Raleigh has grown too quickly, I've barely been able to keep him alive. His body cannot support its own weight and his lungs are too small. He cannot get enough air... He's fading again. I have to tend to him...**

 **End of personal log.**

 **Loading next log in sequence...**

 **Personal Log Entry;**

 **January, 2, 2006:**

 **Subject; My new body**

 **My body requires me to wear an oxygen filter and respirator, and walk with a cane. The serum needs more work. I must keep working. If I'm going to find Cooper I must be in peak physical condition... Work is almost complete on my new storm machine. It's simply a matter of time now. Cooper will suffer for putting me in jail.**

 **End of personal log.**

 **Loading next log in sequence...**

Tris read the logs with a small frown. So Raleigh had a partner? It never mentioned them by name or even by pronoun. The serum was a growth serum, as they'd suspected, and the reason for Raleigh's new equipment. She downloaded more of the information and then returned to the hideout, collapsing on her cot and falling asleep in minutes.

* * *

Josie sighed and walked along the hall, her whole body tense. She hated this stupid ship. She'd never been this tense on a mission before except on her first few ever.

" _Alright Josie, you need to find the main water pump. The good thing is the machinery will lead you right to it."_ Sly said.

"Alright." She said. "I can do that."

" _Even after these past three years it doesn't seem he's changed much."_

She nodded and followed the winding water lines to a room with a huge water pump surrounded by long ramps that lead down, down, down to the bottom of the room. She looked over the pump and frowned. "Soooo... What am I supposed to do here?"

" _ **You see those barrels of dynamite? You need to walk all three of them to the base of the pump and detonate them."**_ Bentley said.

"Isn't this more of your area of expertise Bentley?" She asked, staring at the large barrels. "Explosives and all that?"

" _ **Normally I'd say yes, but I don't have the range of movement this requires. It's up to you."**_

"Great... furnaces spewing fire and spotlights that shoot lasers and dynamite. Not dangerous at all..." She sighed and running a hand through her short hair before climbing into a barrel and starting down the winding ramps. Walking the barrel down the ramp wasn't so hard. Honestly, it was all about timing, making sure she didn't move when spotlights passed over head, or darting past lasers as they moved, or waiting for furnaces to stop spewing flames and fall shut. She took a deep breath as she jumped from the barrel and set it off, running out of the blast radius as quickly as she could.

She climbed up a ladder back up to the top of the room as the explosion shook the room, ears flattening against her head as alarms started blaring overhead. The second trip down took her twice as long. There were more spotlights this time and the lasers moved faster, not to mention the fact that a bunch of guards had come running and were frantically trying to stop the water pouring from the pump.

She grumbled a little, carefully maneuvering around the guards when their backs were turned. The morons actually ran towards the barrel as she set it off, getting caught in the explosion. She rolled her eyes as she looked down from the ladder. Climbing back up to the top she sighed and glared at the last barrel. This was insane... She sighed and started walking the barrel down one last time.

The explosion sent water pouring out of the ship, a river racing down the halls, shorting circuitry, flooding the armory... Jose stared as it sputtered and choked out a wheezing, gear grinding noise and the whole room went dark.

"Was that the plan?" She asked with wide eyes.

" _ **Not exactly..."**_ Bentley said. " _ **Come on back, Sly grabbed some food from the cafeteria."**_ She nodded slowly and made her way back, having to wade through water in some places.

* * *

Alright I'll be back soon with the next chapter I hope you guys enjoyed this one!


	7. Chapter 7 Treasure Keys

Wow it's been a long time. I'm so, so sorry guys, I hate making you wait like that. I hit a really nasty case of writers block but finally the muse is with me again. So, since it's been so long I'm uploading a couple chapters for you guys to make up for the long wait. Here's the first, and please let me know what you think!

* * *

"I've been doing some research and something's come to my attention." Bentley said, waving Sly over. "Raleigh spends a lot of his time in his lab, and the only way in besides the voice activated door, is his old treasure keys. The guy really didn't learn his lesson last time..." Sly's brow creased and he leaned over the small table Bentley was sitting at.

"Clearly not... So where are they?" He asked, tail swishing as he examined the map on the computer screen.

"Scattered throughout the ship. I've managed to locate a few keys in the coal room." Sly nodded.

"Got it..."

"You'll need Tris and a disguise for this one... Head to the crew quarters first." He nodded and gathered his gear, double checking his ear piece.

"Can do." He twirled his cane and let it come to a rest on his shoulder before he ducked out of their hideout and made his way down to the crew quarters to get a spare uniform.

" **Alright Sly, that costume is rather restricting, so you probably won't be able to do what you normally can't, but so long as you stay in it they shouldn't suspect anything."** Tris said over the ear piece. " **Now all the guards are currently on high alert and are all checking up on one another, so if they ask you for a password I'll feed you the correct answer. Uh... Just don't mess it up or your cover will be blown."**

"No problem. Let's do this." He said before pushing through the doors to the coal room. Almost immediately he found himself confronted by a large frog with a flashlight.

"Hold up... I don't recognize you. What's the daytime password?" The guard grunted,, narrowing his eyes at Sly.

" **Just a sec... Got it! Gear, steam, Pipe, Propeller."**

"Gear, Steam, Pipe, Propeller." Sly parroted. The guard nodded and then gestured for him to carry on. He moved further inside and found a secluded spot before pulling out his binocucom.

" **Alright Sly, nice work getting in here."** Tris said.

"Thanks I do try..." He smirked. "So what's the job here?" He looked around the piles of coal and the walk ways and noticed a safe on the far side of the room with a number of large locks.

" **There are four terminals in this room connected to that big safe there. I need you to swap out with the guard watching them, put the wireless transmitter on it and stand watch while I hack in."**

"Piece of Cake."

" **Oh and... don't change out of that uniform in here... If we get caught the safe will seal and only Raleigh will be able to get it open."**

"Like I said, piece of cake. Relax I've got this."

" **I know. I know... Do your thing."** He nodded and slipped his binocucom back into his pocket before starting down the walkway. Keeping as low a profile as he could he made his way to the closest terminal. Before getting too close he took a moment to size up his opponent. The toad standing in front of the computer looked half asleep and quite bored, an easy target.

He sautered up to the guard and smirked. "Falling asleep on the job?" He asked. The toad snapped awake and looked around in panic before smirking and relaxing.

"Yeah... Maybe a little. You my shift change? You're an hour late."

Sly mentally cheered. "You got it buddy. Sorry I'm so late. Boss made me clean the kitchen with a toothbrush."

The guard winced. "Sorry man, that sucks. Now on top of that you're stuck doin' this gig? Man this is the worst job I've ever had. It's so boring! And the air is so full of smoke and coal dust I can barely breathe!" He sighed and shook his head. "Oh! Man sorry to do this but I gotta ask... what's the... the uh, oh right, the Pump Room Password?"

Sly hesitated while Tris fed him the password, trying to appear to be thinking about it. "Steam, Steam, Pipe, Steam." He said, clearing his throat. "There's so many of these things I can barely keep track am I right?" He laughed and the guard laughed too.

"I hear you man. Uh... Good luck stayin' awake for the next six hours."

"Thanks man!" The guard walked off and Sly sighed in relief as he slipped the transmitter from his pocket and attached it to the terminal before taking up the guard position.

" **You're quite the smooth talker Cooper. Keep this up and we'll have those two keys in no time."** Tris said.

Sly smirked. "I do try. Now it's your turn." She chuckled.

" **Yeah, yeah."** It barely took her two minutes before the first lock on the safe clicked open. " **Ta'da! Magic worked. On to the next challenge!"**

Sly nodded, making his way around the room and humming to himself as he went. He paused, leaning on the railing a guard walked past, taking several minutes to look at the next guard. He took his time watching the next guard, watching as the man interrogated each person who walked past.

"Tough guy..." He mumbled, narrowing his eyes. "You better be ready with those passwords." He said.

" **No need to worry about me."** Tris assured him. He walked down to the guard.

"Hold it! I don't know you. What's the deck password?" The guard snapped.

"Steam, Pipe, Propeller, pipe." Sly said as Tris fed it to him.

"Alright... but what's the Engine Room Password?"  
"Pipe, Pipe, Steam, Rust."

The guard gave him a suspicious look and then noddedd. "Alright fine. Are you my replacement?" Sly nodded and the guard walked off without another word.

"Real charmer that one..." He rolled his eyes and attached the wireless transmitter to the terminal. Tris snickered.

" **Guess he's having a bad day."** She said as she examined the codes and quickly hacked her way through the second level security firewall. " **Alright, we're good. Two to go."** Sly sighed a little and nodded, grabbing the transmitter and starting towards the next guard.

The frog was typing on the console and Sly paused to watch him for a moment before walking over and tapping his shoulder. "Isn't using the consoles for personal use against the rules?" He asked. The guard nearly jumped out of his skin and spun to stare at Sly.

"Man I thought you were the boss! Don't sneak up on a guy like that!" He frowned. "I was just..."

"Emailing your family?" Sly asked, looking at the picture attached to the email, a woman and two kids.

"Yeah. I haven't seen them in months." The frog turned back to the terminal and sighed. "There are no consoles for us crew so I've been trying to keep up with them through the ones around the ship."

"That's reasonable man, just hurry up, I have to take shift here and if I get caught Raleigh will have my head." The frog nodded and quickly finished the email.

"Thanks man. I'll see ya around." Sly nodded and waved as the guard hurried off before he attached the wireless transmitter.

" **Poor guy... He chose the wrong boss."**

"You got that right." Sly watched the guard walk around the side of the room and sighed.

" **His family is cute though. Wouldn't mind having that myself."** Tris said softly, pausing a moment in her hacking.

"You'll find it someday Tris." He assured her.

" **I hope you're right Cooper. I'm done with this one. Just one more and you can get at the key."**

He nodded and moved on to the last terminal, watching the final guard shuffle around in front of it. "What is this guy? A hundred?" He asked, staring at the ancient toad as he angrily swatted at a fellow guard who was passing by with is cane.

" **According to my files that's the chief of engineering. He make sure everything's running smoothly so Raleigh can focus on other things."** She bit her lip. " **You have two options for dealing with him... Either you distract him with his favorite snack, fruit flies and vanilla ice cream, or you try to charm him."** Sly hummed softly in thought.

"Where am I going to find fruit flies and ice cream?" He asked.

" **Well... that vent over there leads to the galley..."** She directed the camera in his binocucom to the vent. " **It's probably got fewer traps than the more important ones."** He nodded.

"I'm headed to the kitchens." He said, moving to the vent as quickly as he could and slipping out of his disguise. It was a fairly tight fit, the vent was quite narrow, but surprisingly it hadn't been filled with traps. The kitchen on the other hand was a different story. Sly swore softly and swung onto the counter, glaring at the lasers on the floor. "I hate lasers, have I ever mentioned that?"

" **I don't think you have, no."**

"Well I do." He huffed in annoyance, sliding along the counter and checking cupboards as he went past, finally finding a jar full of dried fruit flies. "Got it. Now for the ice cream." He tucked the jar away and moved to the walk in freezer, using his cane to open it and swing inside once he was sure there was no lasers. Once he found the the ice cream he placed a few scoops into the jar and nodded to himself. "Looks... great..." He said with a grimace, tucking away the jar once more.

" **Great work Sly, now one last thing... some sleeping pills."** He smirked and nodded.

"Got it." He moved to the freezer door and checked that the coast was clear before slipping back onto the counters and moving to the first aid kit on the far wall. Taking a few pills and grinding them up he added it to the jar and then slipped back to the vent.

He pulled on his disguise again once back in the coal room, before he walked over to the old toad still shuffling around in front of the terminal. "Excuse me sir, I-"

"Get lost!" The old man's cane narrowly missed Sly's leg.

"Hey! I brought you a snack. Thought you might be hungry. It's your favorite." He offered the jar and the toad snatched it without so much as a thank you. Sly walked a short distance off and waited a moment until the toad had finished and dozed off. "See this is why you never take candy from strangers." He chuckled as he walked over to the terminal and attached the transmitter again. Tris snickered and quickly got to work hacking the final terminal.

As soon as she finished the door to the vault opened and Sly ran over, grabbing the old treasure keys with a wide grin.

* * *

Josie shrugged into the disguise Sly had given her, brushing as much of the coal dust off it as she could. "So what's my job Bent?" She asked, looking at the library she was standing in front of.

" _Raleigh has hidden two of his treasure keys in the library somewhere. In order to get through and find them you'll need a special badge the guards wear."_ Bentley said.

"Alright." She nodded. "I can get my hands on one of those."

" _There's a guard coming out of the library in just a moment, steal his badge and then head inside and I'll explain the rest."_ She nodded again.

"Got it." She said, leaning against the wall and waiting for the guard to walk out and down the hall. Pinching his badge was easy, he didn't even notice her take it and she smirked as she attached it to her own hip. She ducked into the library and froze as she came face to face with a large gun aimed right at her. It whirred and hummed and she cringed, diving out of the way and pressing against the wall.

"Bentley what the hell?" She hissed.

" _Relax Josie, the badge has an identification chip in it, it won't fire at you."_ She sighed in relief and stepped out of the cover, walking past the weapon and shaking her head. " _Now the keys are hidden in this room, see that star pattern in the middle of the room?"_

Josie nodded. "Yeah, I see it."

" _It's a hidden compartment. The whole library is full of hidden compartments and traps, and that particular compartment is sealed by a complex system of puzzles and painting codes."_

Josie tilted her head and nodded again. "Alright. I can do painting safe cracking... Same basic principal."

" _Exactly."_ He said. " _I've marked the places I believe you need to go. Just... be careful... They may not all be correct and like I said there's traps all over this place. Oh! and watch where you put your feet."_

"I swear you're trying to see how far I'll go to follow your orders." She narrowed her eyes slightly and shook her head. "Next thing you know I'll be climbing into my own coffin." On the other end of the line she could hear Bentley snickering and grimaced. "You laugh now bub but I swear if you ever tell me to climb into a coffin that's the last time I ever listen to you."

" _Yeah, yeah... Just get going before the guard realizes he's missing his card."_ She stepped further into the room. Her tail flicking as she went to a painting marked by the little hologram Bentley had sent to her mask display. The old painting was a landscape she recognized as Paris and she hummed softly, carefully examining the painting for the codes only to find there were none.

"Bentley..."

" _I see it."_ He said. " _Hold on. It's not numbers."_ He highlighted a number of symbols in the artwork.

"Well that's just cheating." She grumbled as she moved the painting only to find the safe there was number locked. "Oh come on!"

" _This is more difficult than I was expecting."_ Josie sighed and glared at the safe, putting the painting back in place and moving to the next hologram. This one was a statue, with several buttons on the base with the symbols that were different from the previous ones on the painting.

"Okay. This is getting ridiculous."

" _Try this next one."_ He said, highlighting another spot in the room, this one a bookshelf. She walked over and tugged on the book with the pale blue sparkles on it, shaking her head a little as the shelf slid to the side.

"How cliche can you get?" She asked, noticing this safe had the same symbol lock as the painting. "Oh! Bentley what was the symbol code?"

" _Square, triangle, X, circle."_ She nodded and grinned as the safe swung open to reveal a lever among a rather sizeable collection of jewelry, which she cautiously pulled. Her ear twitched as she heard a lock disengage.

"Next?" She smirked, walking to the next highlighted painting. "Woah, get a look at that ugly mug..." She said. This painting was of Raleigh sitting on a throne. "Guess someone was missing their glory days." She said.

" _Guess so."_ He said. She nodded and quietly examined the painting for the code she needed. She found it, printed tiny in the woodgrain of the throne and flipped it open so she could look at the safe behind it. She grinned as she found the numbers matched the safe.

"Finally..." She grumbled, pulling it open and grinning. "Well I'll be... A thief's favorite goodie." She chuckled, taking as much of the cash and jewelry from the safe as possible. Once the goods were safely tucked away in her pockets she turned back to the room and moved to the final hologram picture. This one was of a swamp, bones and dark magic poking through the greenery. She shivered involuntarily and found eyes staring at her from the painted bushes. "Ugh, this is beyond creepy..." She mumbled.

" _Try having been there."_ Bentley grimaced. She shook her head and picked out the symbols for the base of the statue, her tail flicking as she turned away from the painting, still feeling the eyes on her. She shuddered and shook off the feeling before turning the symbols on the statue to the right combination. The lock disengaged and the star on the floor opened, allowing her to pull out the two keys she needed. " _Uh... Josie, you may want to run."_

"What? Wh-" She winced as an alarm started to blare and her ears folded back. "Damn it!" She hissed, bolting out the door and down the hall.

* * *

"I am going to kill whoever invented the alarm system..." Josie grumbled, tossing the keys on the table beside Bentley. Sly chuckled and smirked a little at her.

"Rough job?"

"You could say that." She still felt like there were eyes on her.

"So, four of seven treasure keys. That enough?" Sly asked Bentley.

"Not quite. The last three are in Raleigh's office though and I can only think of one person to go get them... meet the RC car lite!" He grinned and set a small rc car on the table. It was barely bigger than his hand. "This baby is the latest in RC cars. I bought it just before we left Paris. Good thing too, my old RC car wouldn't have made it through the vents without setting off alarms every few minutes." He moved it to the floor and sent it into the vents with a grin.

Using a small camera and his remote control, Bentley carefully guided the car around pressure plates and laser traps and air vents. He maneuvered the car into a small opening and grinned as he found a power switch, which he shot with the small cannon on the car. "One down." He said, reversing and continuing on down the vent. Three more power switches later he finally maneuvered the car into a small vent opening in a safe room.

The camera panned around the room in search of the keys and Bentley frowned. "Damn, looks like they're on a pedestal, one of you will have to go get it." He turned to Sly and Josie who both sighed and locked eyes as they held a silent rock paper scissors battle, which Josie ended up losing. She muttered to herself in annoyance as she crawled into the vent and to the safe room.

"She always plays paper on the third play." Sly said with a smirk as he leaned back against the table. Bentley chuckled.

"And here I thought I was the only one who noticed that." He said, keeping an eye on Josie and the security system. He froze as the door to the room opened and quickly ducked his rc car back behind a painting. "Josie, don't move." He warned.

" _What's going on?"_ She hissed.

"Raleigh just entered the safe. Stay put."

Raleigh looked around the safe with narrowed eyes, leaning heavily on his cane as he surveyed his most secure belongings. "I know you can hear me Cooper!" He rasped, walking a bit further into the room. "Quit hiding in the shadows and let's finish this." He took the keys from their pedestal and held them up in his free hand. "You want my last treasure keys? Come take them from me." Sly narrowed his eyes and Bentley gasped as Raleigh threw the painting his rc car was hidden under aside and picked it up to look directly into the camera. "These games are pathetic, face me like a man." With that he dropped the car and crushed it under his boot, leaving nothing but static on the screen.

* * *

Alright, there you go guys, next chapter is the Raleigh face down! Again, let me know what you think and once more I'm so sorry for the long wait.


	8. Chapter 8 Operation Stormbreaker

Here's the next one guys! Raleigh was fun to work with once I started to play around with his character some more and I had a blast writing out his fight scene. Hope you guys enjoy it too! Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear!

* * *

"Bentley what the hell happened?" Josie snapped as she crawled out from the vent, storming over to the turtle as he was furiously drawing up new plans.

"Raleigh out maneuvered us." He grumbled. "But that's not going to stand." He looked up from his paper and locked eyes with Sly. "We're ending this now."

Sly nodded in agreement. "Say the word buddy."

"We have to hit fast and get those keys off Raleigh." Tris joined them at the table and nodded as Bentley pointed to Sly. "Do you think you can handle facing him?" Sly smirked.

"Come on, I beat his soggy face in once, I can do it any time."

"Good. Then you'll need to answer his challenge and get those last keys away from him." Sly nodded again and grabbed his cane. "Josie, go with him, once he's got the keys bring them to me and Tris on the flight deck." Josie saluted and ran after Sly as he slipped into the hall.

She followed him up to the main deck, and scowled as she saw Raleigh standing there, waiting for them.

"Finally Cooper." The frog hissed, narrowing his bulging eyes at Sly. "Let us end this once and for all. You're as pathetic as your father, you know... predictable as the tides." Sly bared his teeth.

"And you didn't change at all Raleigh, you're still the self centered, ego maniac you were the first time I knocked your teeth out."

"Ah yes... But that was a long time ago Cooper. I'd grown lazy and fat."

"Yeah, and now you're a walking science experiment gone wrong." Sly walked towards him, cane gripped tightly in his hand. "Why did you do this to yourself? What possessed you to mutate yourself like this?"

"Revenge." He hissed. "The serum was flawed I will admit, but now I have perfected the formula. When I add the final ingredient, I will be stronger, faster... I will be nigh invincible! But you showed up before I could complete the last batch. Now I must resort to other methods to annihilate you."

"So what is this time? More bloating to try and crush me?"

"No, something far worse." Josie yelped as a bolt of lightning struck the deck just inches from her, causing her to roll to the side. "This time I've harnessed mother nature herself!" Cackling like a madman Raleigh tapped his cane on the deck and a small platform raised him into the air as his storm machine kicked on and thick fog engulfed both him and Sly.

"Sly! Bentley I have no visual!" She cried, holding onto a railing as the wind swirled around her and whipped the fog into a miniature hurricane. Flashes of lightning scorched the deck and illuminated shadows inside the storm for brief seconds, catching the fight in still frames.

In the storm Sly ducked behind a crate as lightning hit where he'd been standing. He grit his teeth and peered over the crate to look for an opening. Between the roaring wind and Raleigh's insane laughter, it was hard to focus on much of anything. The lighting generators, two large tubes filled with the raw electric power on either side of Raleigh's platform, seemed to have weak points near the bases, but he knew his cane wouldn't do much damage to them. But the other generator might be able to. It was risky and dangerous, but if he could get the opposite generator to hit the other, then it might at least short it out long enough for him to at least get a swing in at Raleigh.

He took a deep breath and dove from cover, narrowly avoiding an arch of lighting as he ran around the generator on his left to the weak point he'd identified, a small opening where several gears were exposed. He barely avoided the next shot, but it hit the exposed gears and the generator slumped down and dimmed. Taking the opportunity he ran and leapt onto the platform Raleigh was on, swinging his cane hard at the other man's air tanks, only to have his cane met with the one Raleigh was leaning on.

"My legs may be weak, but this cane is just as functional as yours Cooper." Only Raleigh and Clockwerk himself had ever said his name with so much contempt and hatred, making it sound like poison on their lips. Sly snarled and tried to push Raleigh's cane away only to have the frog manage to yank it from his hands and send it flying into the storm. "I should have killed you when I had the chance!" With the press of a button the cane transformed into a deadly blade which Sly found pointed directly at his chest. Sly took a step back and found himself on the edge of the platform. He dove over the side, hitting the deck and rolling to his feet so he could run.

His cane flew back through the fog and he grabbed it from the deck, eyes widening as the first generator came back online.

" _ **Sly, this whole ship is going to come apart if you don't shut that machine down!"**_ Bentley warned in his ear. " _ **We're fighting a losing battle here, if you don't hurry up we're all going to end up in the ocean!"**_

"I'm working on it Bentley! But Raleigh's not as frail as he looks!" He yelped and rolled out of the way as lightning struck the deck again.

" _I can't get through the storm Sly! You have to find a way to shut it down."_ He panted as he ducked behind another crate.

"Like I said I'm working on it!" He hissed.

"Quit hiding Cooper!" Raleigh shouted. The ship groaned under their feet, straining against the fury of the storm. Sly shook his head and glanced at the generators again. One again he ran to the one on his left and rolled to the side to cause it to be hit with electricity before rushing towards Raleigh again. This time he was prepared for Raleigh to counter attack and faked a swing one way before aiming not at the air tanks but the frog's legs. Raleigh went tumbling as soon as Sly's cane connected to his knee, sending him sprawling over the side of the platform. Sly followed him and snagged the keys from his jacket pocket before looking around for a way to shut off the storm.

Ralieigh's laugh caught his attention. The frog struggled to his feet as Sly quickly put distance between them. "So you have the keys..." He cackled, manic as his mask fell from his face to reveal scars and the dark lines of poison in his veins. "Maybe you aren't as stupid as I thought." He chuckled bitterly and raised his cane, tossing aside his breathing mask. "Fine then, let's finish this like gentlemen."

"You're no gentleman Raleigh. You're a monster." Sly growled. Raleigh sneered and leapt at him, sword swinging within inches of Sly's chest before he could react properly. Stumbling backwards Sly struggled to find an opening in Raleigh's defense, and he saw it, a small hiccup in his foot work that enabled him to knock the blade aside and ram his shoulder into his chest, sending him sprawling on the deck. With Raleigh incapacitated for the moment Sly snatched his rival's cane and ran over to the machine creating the storm to shut it down.

Raleigh struggled to breath and rasped as he crawled to his feet just as the storm's power was cut off, allowing Josie to run over to Sly and get the keys. "This isn't over Cooper!"

"It is for you Raleigh." Sly said, tossing the frog's cane overboard. "You need your mask to breathe, so either you stand down or it goes over the side too." He held the mask over the edge and Raleigh gave him a panicked look.

"No!" Raleigh slumped in defeat, breathing ragged and uneven as he collapsed back to his knees. "No..."

Josie ran the keys to Tris and Bentley, and they quickly used them to unlock the pilot's controls. "Next stop, somewhere in the US." Tris said, adjusting their course.

* * *

It took them several hours to reach southern Florida, but as soon as they touched down they left the ship for the police who swarmed it rather quickly. Josie tended Sly's wounds as they rode in the car they'd stolen. He stayed quiet, lost in his thoughts. They all stayed quiet as they drove until they were four towns away and in a safe house where they could hide out until some of the chaos died down.

"I can't believe that was Raleigh." Sly said, his voice little more than a whisper as they sat around eating their dinner.

"Yes... The serum took it's toll." Bentley said, shaking his head. "From what I could tell it was a growth hormone of some kind."

"All I know is that it's good to be on solid land again." Tris grumbled. "And eating real food." She curled up on the couch with her burger in an almost protective manner.

"Agreed." Sly nodded.

"We should get Murray next." Josie said softly. "We could really use his help..."

Bentley nodded and sucked the salt from his fingers. "I'll start looking for him tomorrow morning."

"Last I heard he was in Australia." Tris said.

"Yeah, same here." He sighed and crumpled the wrapper from his burger, tossing it in the trash before going to his cot. "Anyway, I'm beat. Let's all try to get some sleep before we do anything else." They all nodded and finished their meals before they each went to sleep, but Sly was still too on edge to do so and instead went outside for some fresh air.

An hour later Josie woke and shuffled out to find him staring at the night sky. "What are you doing Rings?" She mumbled, rubbing one eye.

He glanced over his shoulder and sighed. "I'm afraid I'll wake up and we'll still be on the ship." He said quietly. None of it really felt... real. Not to him at least.

"Rings it's over." She said, sitting beside him. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and nodded.

"I know... but it doesn't feel like it, and really this is just the first step in it all. We still have to find Murray, and the others, and then we have to get past all that security and... I don't even know if it'll be worth it in the end." She frowned up at him.

"What are you talking about?"

"The vault. We don't even know what's inside. It could be a bunch of cobwebs and dust for all we know and all of this would have been for nothing."

"Sly, it's your family's history. There's more than cobwebs and dust in there." She assured him. "Trust me, your family meticulously wrote down a codex on how to be a master thief, if anyone left behind a vault full of treasure it's them. And even if it turns out to be empty or whatever, at least you can say you tried to find what your family left behind."

"Do you ever wonder if your family would have been proud of you?" He asked, causing her to pause.

"No..." She replied honestly. "But then I didn't have a book to tell me what I should be. I didn't even know my father had been a spy until after I joined up." She looked up at the sky. "My family was full of secrets and over the years I learned that most of the answers went to the grave with my parents. At least you had an idea of who your parents were. I sure as hell didn't." He listened silently and then nodded with a small sigh. "Look Sly, your family would have been so proud of you. You took on and defeated a monster that had terrorized your family for literally centuries. You took back your family's book page by page until it was complete again. You avenged them, and I'm sure brought them peace... You don't have anything to worry about."

He managed a small smile and nodded again. "Thanks Josie."

"You're welcome. Now come to bed." She said, standing up and tugging on his hand until he followed her back inside and to his cot.

"Goodnight Josie..."

"Night Rings."

* * *

Alright, on to the next chapter and on to Venice and finding Murray. I always did love the levels in the third game, they were all so different from one another. Venice was always a lot of fun to run around in. I'm excited for some of the things I have planned and hope you guys are too!


	9. Chapter 9 Cops and Robbers

Alright, here's the last make up chapter. The others will be on a scheduled release from now on, hopefully I can keep up this time! Anyway, onto Venice!

* * *

They landed in beautiful Venice Italy three days later, the last known sighting of Murray had been almost a week prior to their arrival so Bentley wasn't exactly optimistic. Murray had rarely been sighted in the same place for more than three days and so the chances he'd moved on was very high. They'd found a tiny pizzeria in the heart of the city and quickly settled in. Josie smiled as she walked through the streets, greeting others in Italian as she passed. Italy was one of her favorite places in the world and Venice was at the top of her favorite cities.

"Enjoying your walk?" Sly's voice purred in her ear as he stepped up behind her. She gasped and turned, smiling once she'd realized it was him. He offered a rose and she giggled as she took it.

"Yes I am, thank you." He nodded. "You haven't worn a sundress since we spent that month in Hawaii." She smiled and spun her soft blue skirt.

"I know, but it's so beautifully sunny!" She said, tail flicking. He laughed and smiled as he watched her half dance down the street. "Besides, I want to enjoy it in case we have to leave."

"I agree." He took her hand and kissed it. "Mm, do you remember that restaurant not far from here? Want to get some lunch?" She grinned and nodded.

"Yes! Oh I'd almost forgotten about that place!" She pulled him along the street to the small restaurant and he chuckled as he got them a table. He loved when Josie was so excited and happy. She smiled and tucked herself against his side as they watched the gondolas traverse the waterways and enjoyed their handmade pasta.

After their meal they returned to the safe house and Tris smiled at them. "Hey you two, have fun?"

"Yep! So what have we found out about Murray?" Josie asked.

"Not much, we still don't have an exact pinpoint on him and have no idea if he's even still here."

"Anything we can do?"

"Well you two could go out and check the city, start asking around... But I'm noticing a real lack of cops around which is... troubling." Tris frowned and went back to setting up her equipment.

"Given Murray's criminal past I'd say it's a good bet to check local law enforcement, even if we haven't seen many of them around." Bentley said. "Sly, why don't you head over to the police station and see if he's there, if not then they probably have some intel on him."

"I'm on it." He said, grabbing his cane and slipping out the door.

"I'll check a few local sources I have and see if I can learn anything." Josie said, following Sly out and then walking down the street to a small family owned antique's shop. Upon entering she found the owner, a rather old ermine who was all but completely blind, behind the counter. Beside him was his daughter who recognized Josie immediately.

"Josephina Augustine!" She cried, vaulting the counter and rushing over to hug her. Josie smiled and hugged her back.

"Matilde! And Horatio! Old codger i thought you had up and died three years ago." She teased. Horatio snorted and cackled wildly, showing off his missing teeth, only a few of which remained.

"Little Josie. What brings you here?" He asked, turning his dark eyes to her.

"I'm looking for someone Horatio, a friend of mine I met about a year ago."

"Always giving insignificant details..." The old man scoffed. "Name and species."

"Murray Amaury Barre, he's a hippo, big guy about six three or six four." Horatio nodded and tapped his chin. "He's on a spirit quest from a Guru in Australia."

"A spirit walk?" Matilde asked. "I heard of a man matching this description but it was almost a week ago."

"That's the last I heard of him too." She sighed.

Horatio shook his head. "Matilde go speak with Andre, he should have information." Matilde nodded and hurried into the back of the shop. Josie turned back to Horatio and smiled.

"What is the latest news in the area Horatio?"

"There is rumors of a dangerous thief in town... A mysterious figure who goes by the Fox of a Thousand Faces."

"I've heard about them in a few other places too. I'll be sure to keep an eye out just in case. We don't need competition right now." The old man shook his head and coughed as he stood, ancient bones cracking as he did so.

"Bah, they're nothing but the latest. More will come, someone better, more sophisticated, more intelligent... They always do." Josie chuckled as Horatio shuffled around from behind the counter with his cane gripped tightly in one hand. "But you, you are not with your old agency. You're with that Cooper Gang now."

"Word travels I see."

"You came to Venice months ago, of course word travels." He smacked her arm and pulled a small folder from the inside of an old clock. "Take this, it has tabs on those cops who have been following you." She smiled and took the folder.

"Thanks H." Matilde returned and shook her head with a sigh.

"Andre didn't know anything." She said. "I'm afraid your friend has dropped off the face of the Earth Josie."

"Thank you for asking anyway Matilde."

"Anytime. You come back for dinner with that Sly Cooper you're dating and we'll have a nice meal, yes?" Josie smiled and nodded.

"We just might have to take you up on that. Thank you again." She waved as she stepped out and walked back to the safe house. She was halfway back when she spotted Liam talking with several locals. Ducking behind a corner she strained to hear what he was saying.

"If you see anything, please let us know." He said before turning and walking toward her. He walked right past her and she sighed softly before following him down the street. With a small sigh he stopped in front of a bird fountain that was literally running black and sticky with tar. "Damn it, not another one." he grumbled, taking a photo with his phone. "At this rate the waterways will be nothing but tar before Carnevale is over." Josie frowned as he walked away and went to inspect the fountain for herself. She snapped her own picture and then returned to the safe house.

"Find anything?" Bentley asked hopefully.

"Sorry, my most reliable source hasn't heard anything about Murray, but he did notice Liam and Carmelita are in the area." She handed him the folder and sat down at the table with a sigh. "He also mention The Fox is here." Tris frowned and shook her head.

"Well that shouldn't affect us too much." She said. "So long as we stay clear we should be fine."

* * *

Sly dropped into the cell block of the police station and looked around. It was honestly smaller than it had looked from the outside and he frowned. Only one of the cells even had anyone in it and it was so dark he couldn't make out if the figure was Murray or not.

"Hey, Murray? That you in there?" He called in a soft voice.

"Wha?" The voice that responded was definitely not Murray's and the figure that appeared out of the gloom made him do a double take. "Cooper... You got some fuzzy dice to come round here..." Dimitri, lounge lizard extraordinaire, snarled as he glared at Sly through the bars of the cell.

"Dimitri? Long time no punch. See you're still in jail."

"And you're still a crackerbox." Dimitri hissed.

"Look let's get past the name calling and get down to business."

"Looking for main man Murray, eh? Sorry but I'd rather see you get busted big time!" Sly winced as Demitri started shouting for a guard.

"Wait! Let's come to some kind of compromise!" He hissed. Demitri paused and raised an eyebrow.

"Mmm... compromise eh? What you got Cooper?"

"What if I bust you out of there?" Demitri snorted and rolled his eyes.

"You may get the cell door open, but the cops would throw down big time and bust me on the way out! Then I gets the double sentence! Grief!" Sly frowned, glancing at the air duct he'd come out of.

"Look, there's no way you'll fit through the vents so... what if I distract the guards? Get their attention and lead them outside, that way while they're all focused on me you can get away clean?"

A wicked grin spread over Demitri's face. "Now that's a plan I can get behind! Demitri is free and Cooper is cooked! Haha!" He cackled. "Get me out of here, and I'll find Murray no sweat. Just keep on the downlow and out of sight near them coppers bro, they're a bad bunch of bunnies... Key to the door is in head cop lady's office."

"Sound's like a plan. I should be able to pick this other lock no problem by hand." Demitri nodded and smirked as he sat back to wait and Sly ducked under a small table and started to make his way along the floor. He paused under one of the desks as he caught sight of Carmelita standing in front of a projector.

"Listen up men, we're ready to start the presentation now." Sly frowned as he looked around at the others in the room, realizing they weren't cops but mercenaries. "As you all know, we've been taken off the Cooper case until he resurfaces, so until then we're investigating the mysterious appearance of tar in the Venetian canals." Carmelita leaned against her podium, gripping it tightly. "No one is sure of the cause but we have reason to believe this man, Don Octavio is to blame. Unfortunately we have yet to find any solid proof."

Sly continued on to Carmelita's office and slipped in through a vent before quietly searching for the key. His tail flicked and he hummed softly to himself. "If I was a key where would I hide?" He mused, looking over the collection of items Carmelita kept in her office. A picture of her and Inspector Berkley who she'd trained under was prominently displayed on her desk, along side one of her and Liam with a criminal they'd busted. There were her favorite books, mostly classics like Sherlock Holmes, or Shakespeare. But these were places Carmelita hid personal items, not keys for jail cells. He paused and opened the drawer to her desk, smirking as he found the key ring inside. "Bingo."

He froze as the lights overhead flickered and snapped on and he ducked so he wouldn't be seen through the windowed walls. He glanced at the door and let out a soft sigh of relief when it didn't open. "Hold on boys the power's on the fritz again, it'll calm down in a few minutes." Carmelita said. "Getting back to the tar situation..." She huffed in annoyance as the lights shut off just as quickly as they'd come on.

" _Better make sure you're under a table when those lights come back on Sly..."_ Bentley warned.

Sly resisted the urge to roll his eyes and slipped out of the room the way he'd come. Darting between desks he slowly made his way back to the cell block, taking his time to make sure he didn't get caught out in the open.

Demitri stood and moved to the bars of the cell as he returned and narrowed his eyes at Sly. "Can you really crack this coconut?" He asked.

"Sure. All it takes is a light touch." Sly replied with a smirk. He knelt to examine the lock and then got to work on cracking the combination. Demitri grinned as the door swung open and he strutted from the cell. "Alright, let me clear this place out then make a break for it."

"Solid bro, straight way I'll send word for Murray to find you. Meet at Rialto bridge. Big Italian landmark, can't miss it."

Sly nodded and then vaulted the table to run into the room. "Hello, assorted meatheads!" He called, grinning widely. The whole room turned to look at him and Carmelita's eyes narrowed.

"Cooper! Grab him men!" She yelled, running towards him.

"And... I'm out." He smirked and darted out the door, Carmelita and her mercs on his tail. He yelped and narrowly avoided running into Liam as the wolfdog was coming into the building.

"What the-" Liam snapped, staring after Sly as he ran towards the closet canal.

"It's Cooper, grab him!" Carmelita grabbed Liam by the arm and dragged him along as she followed Sly.

Sly laughed, leaping onto a passing gondola, nearly knocking the poor pigeon controlling it into the water. "Sorry!" He called over his shoulder as he landed on a tourist laden ship. "Excuse me, coming through!" He wove through the crowd and leapt to the other side of the canal as the tourists shouted and snapped pictures with their phones. "Make sure you get my good side." He smirked, giving a mock salute.

"Come back here Cooper!" Carmelita shouted, only a few feet behind.

"Bravo team, get ahead of him!" Liam said into his walkie talkie. "He's headed north, someone tell me we have a patrol near Rialto."

Bentley's voice came through in Sly's ear. " _Take a left Sly!"_ Sly turned the corner and vaulted a water pit that fell open. " _Keep heading straight..."_

"Bentley there's a cafe in the way!"

" _Go through it Sly, it's the only way you're going to avoid those mercenaries!"_

"If you say so..." He dodged his way around tables and customers, though the kitchen and out the back door before scrambling to his right as Liam blocked off one exit to the alley he found himself in. "Okay, this is getting ridiculous." He hissed, knocking aside a merc with his cane. "Bentley I need an exit strategy here!"

" _I'm working on it!"_ Sly slid to a stop in front of the bridge, panting heavily and looking for an escape route he could use.

The manhole cover slid open and Murray appeared from inside. "Greetings old- Inspector Fox? Liam! Man you're in it again..." He shook his head and Sly grinned.

"Hope that manhole works both ways!" The called as he leapt into the sewer, Murray on his tail.

"That's right, hide in the sewers like the rat you are!" Carmelita shouted, taking a shot at the cover as it slid closed, mostly out of frustration. Liam growled and glared down at the manhole.

"That's it, we lost him..." He spat, shaking his head. "He could pop up anywhere in the city."

* * *

Murray was different from the last time Sly had seen him. He no longer wore his mask, or his hood, he no longer had his gloves or scarf, instead he had white aboriginal paint around his eyes and a bone necklace around his neck.

They'd come out of the sewers near the safehouse and Murray smiled at Sly. "Thanks for the quick escape... I really owe you one. Again..." Sly rubbed the back of his neck and looked away with a small sigh.

"Of course searcher, we are all in search of peace."

"Wow, you're really whole hog on this whole... Dreamtime stuff, huh?"

"My mind is clear, like the woodland after a forest fire." Murray said. Sly had never seen him look so at peace and to be honest it was freaking him out a little.

"Yeah... Listen Murray we need you back on the team." Sly gave him a worried look. "I know you blame yourself for Bentley getting hurt but it wasn't your fault. He doesn't blame you for the wheelchair in fact he-"

"Sorry Sly, but I walk a different path now. My Guru in his wisdom, told me to lose myself and not return until the black water ran pure. So here I stay."

"You sure he didn't just tell you to get lost and not come back until you cleaned out the water filter?" Sly quipped, smirking a little.

"Come on man, I'm on a real spirit quest here!" Murray cried, looking rather offended.

Sly winced and nodded with a sigh. "Sorry, sorry... Tell me everything, I've really missed you pal."

"Well it's a long and awesome story! You got any gum?"

* * *

The rest of the team met Sly at the cafe an hour later, after Murray had gone. He'd said he wasn't ready to face the others yet and insisted on just talking to Sly.

"So that's it. Murray won't join back up until his commitment to his Guru is complete." Sly said, leaning back in his chair with a sigh. Bentley shook his head.

"I'm assuming that by black water he means the tar." He said. "We're going to have to figure out what's causing it and put a stop to it."

"Easier said than done."

"Not necessarily. Carmelita and Liam are looking into this too based off the audio we gathered while Sly was in the police station. Sounds like Carmelita suspects Don Octavio is the culprit." Tris said.

"Hey yeah... We could follow up on their leads and see if there's any connection." Josie said.

"Already partially taken care of." Tris smirked. "As soon as I heard Carmelita's presentation earlier I knew it would likely be important so I started looking in on her main suspect. Don Attilio Octavio, once an opera star back in the late fifties just before rock and roll became really popular." She opened the information document she'd put together on her tablet and set it in the middle of the table for them all to see.

Josie paused. "He was supposed to be the next great tenor? Impressive." She tapped an audio log, listenting to the recording of Octavio singing. "Oh, he does have an amazing voice!"

"Yeah, if tastes hadn't changed he would have had a great career."

"Lets see here... With his dreams of a singing career gone, he was taken in by a group of fans, namely a man called Giovanni Esposito, leader of a local mafia group. When Esposito died three years ago Octavio took over as Don and has made his presence known to everyone." Bentley read, frowning slightly. "Three years ago the mafia wasn't well known to police, they stayed off radar, then Octavio practically took over Venice."

"It's his goons who patrol the streets, not the cops, and most people seem pretty okay with that." Tris shook her head slightly and Josie frowned.

"Or they're too scared to say anything about it. Look even if Octavio isn't the reason behind the tar we should still take him out, yeah? I mean come on, he's dangerous."

Sly nodded in agreement. "I think so, we should really look into this guy." He said.

Tris and Bentley both nodded. "As soon as I get back to the safehouse I'll start putting together a plan." Bentley said. "But first, let's eat!"

* * *

After dinner they returned to the safehouse to start working on their plan of attack only to find it completley ransacked. Papers strewn across the floor, the couch knocked over with the bottom cut out, equipment boxes had been gone through. Josie stared at the chaos in shock, slowly walking into the room. She froze as a loud crash came from the second floor and she grabbed her shock pistol as she ran upstairs with Sly right behind her. In the middle of the room stood a tall, lanky figure, shrouded by the shadows in the room and their dark clothing.

"Who the hell are you?" Sly snapped, his grip on his cane tight.

The figure smirked, teeth flashing in the moonlight streaming through the window. "Sly Cooper. I should have known it was you causing trouble at the police station earlier." They purred in a silky voice but Josie couldn't tell if the figure was a man or a woman. "I was hoping I would run into you, at least once."

Sly frowned and Joise locked eyes with the figure as they turned their attention to her. "And you, Josephina Augustine... This city just became more interesting." The figure cackled. "You came for Murray, that's the word on the street anyway." They walked forward until they could stand over Sly who moved in front of Joise. "I suggest getting him and leaving this city before our paths cross again." They glared at them and shook their head. "And Octavio is my heist, back off." Sly frowned, opening his mouth to respond when the figure turned and slipped out before either of them could say another word.

* * *

There you have it guys! Mysterious figures, Liam and Carmelita, mafia goons all over the city... It's going to be an interesting time getting Murray back, but hey, that's half the fun isn't it? What do you guys think? The next chapter will be out next Saturday so I'll see you then. Until the next chapter, happy reading!


	10. Chapter 10 Octavio's Villa

Oh dear, I know it's late, but it is Saturday still, so have a late night update!

* * *

They sat around the meeting table in silence for nearly an hour after the figure, later determined to be the Fox of a Thousand Faces due to an origami fox left on the window ledge, had left.

"What do we know about this guy?" Sly asked, leaning back in his chair as he looked over the paper fox.

"Not much more than most people." Bentley sighed, digging through what little information he could find. "The Fox has been pulling heists around the world but seems to have started in Paris. They are either one person wearing different disguises or a group but no one can tell for sure. The cops have no real leads, no one on thiefnet knows anything, my contacts back home aren't getting any new intel... It's like they're a ghost..."

"They seem to share motive with us Sly, steal only from criminals." Tris said.

Sly frowned. "That doesn't mean they're anything like us."

"No, of course not. But it is a bit of a concern. We may continue to run into them since we, for lack of a better term, hunt the same prey."

"So we stay away from Octavio." Josie said. "The Fox wants to take him down, they must have a reason, besides first one to it." She shrugged.

"Unfortunately we don't have much of a choice. We need to shut down Octavio's tar operation before Murray will even consider coming with us."

"Fantastic." She sighed and leaned against the table. "This is dangerous territory already, Liam and Carmelita, the Fox, Octavio and his forces... It's a minefield. How are we supposed to get anything done around here?"

"We'll have to work in teams. First, we need to break into Octavio's mansion. Sly you and I will take the basement, see if we can find anything there. Josie, Tris, you two will take the upstairs. Octavio is throwing a party this evening for his wife's birthday."

"Got it, should be easy enough to slip in unnoticed." Bentley nodded and glanced at Sly.

"There's a cellar entrance in the garden, snatch the key from the guard and I'll meet you there." Sly nodded and stood, grabbing his cane.

"Be careful you two." He said, kissing Josie's cheek and smiling.

"Don't worry I've done this dozens of times." She assured him. "We'll be in and out in no time." He nodded again and then slipped out of the hideout, making his way to the villa.

Guests were already arriving for the party and the guards were on high alert. Sly hummed softly and walked around the villa to a secluded back alley he could use to slip onto the property unnoticed before activating his thief mask imager.

" _Alright Sly I've marked the guard with the key. Go get 'em tiger."_ Bentley said in his ear, causing Sly to smirk as he made his way up the side of the villa to wait for the guard to pass his location. He dropped to the ground behind the guard, snatched the key and then hurried back to the side garden where Bentley was waiting.

"Nice job partner." Bentley smiled and Sly unlocked the cellar, letting Bentley go first. Once inside he froze, staring at the mass of lasers that filled the room.

"Oh boy..." He mumbled.

Bentley nodded and tapped his chin. "There's no way I'm going to make it through all that with this chair..." He said with a frown. "It looks like there's a switch on the other side of the room, think you can reach it?" Sly smirked.

"Please, I could reach it in my sleep!" Bentley chuckled and then gestured for him to go ahead.

"Then by all means." He sat back, arms folded over his chest as Sly ducked under the first laser line. Bentley had always been somewhat jealous of Sly's natural abilities, his flexibility and natural agility, but watching him work was always fascinating. Sly had always been able to twist in ways that had been impossible for Bentley even before the accident.

With the ease of an acrobat he slipped between lasers, slid across the floor, and dove through openings. With a smirk Sly arrived on the other side of the grid and shut them off, bowing dramatically. "Et voilà!" He said.

Bentley chuckled and rolled to the door on the far end of the room. "Looks like double button security. You know the drill on these partner." Sly nodded and took up position at one of the buttons as Bentley counted down. "Three... Two... one!" In sync they pressed the buttons and the door slid open for them. Sly went first this time, cautious of guards that may be present down the stairs. The next room had another door but no lasers or guards and Sly paused.

"This seems... Too easy. You'd think a guy like Octavio would have more security down here."

"Given the party going upstairs I'd bet most of the guards are there." Bentley shrugged, taking out his binocucom and examining the room. "But you're right. I don't see any other security here." Sly shrugged and walked to the door without a problem. Down another flight of stairs they found a flooded basement and Sly sighed.

"And there's water." He grumbled, ears back.

"Drat... My booster isn't strong enough to get me to the next door." Bentley pointed to the door on their left. "I've made a number of improvements to my chair but-"

"Relax pal, I should be able to pick my across and can make you a bridge from the crates and boats around here." He smiled and Bentley nodded.

"Thanks Sly." Sly winked and began picking his way across the room. He shuddered as he looked down at the water, careful to plan each move before he made it. The lasers and various open vents spilling hot steam weren't hard to avoid, but he was still sure to be extra careful. Once on the other side he pressed a button, that released some crates from the hooks in the ceiling and made a small bridge for Bentley. "Alright Sly, stand back!" He grinned and placed an explosive on the reinforced door. Sly nodded and smirked a little as the door crumpled under the bomb before revealing another corridor with lasers.

"See this is the kind of security I was expecting..." He chuckled, making his way through the new laser field and shutting them off on the far side so Benley could join him.

"Hmm, these doors are made of four inch thick bullet proof plexiglass... My bombs won't even touch these." He frowned and looked around. "Maybe you can find something through that vent there." Sly nodded and crawled into the vent. He followed the twists and turns but paused as he heard voices coming through one of the vents.

"Bertrando, Tore!" Octavio stepped into the room outside the vent, clearly angry. The raven and wolf guards were being held by a couple of other wolves. "Nice of you two to... stop by for some fatherly advice." Bertrando swallowed hard, shaking as he stared at the pissed of lion standing in front of him. "Julius made a run for it and well..." He trailed off, looking at his nails, filed to sharp points. He grabbed Bertrando's face and smirked. "Normally I'd whack the both of you, but it's Carnivale, and my Bambi's birthday, and I'm feeling generous, so we're gonna come up with something else." Bertrando flinched as he pulled back, not daring to make a noise as the sharp claws left scratches on his cheeks.

Octavio turned away, folding his arms and looking at the tar pumps as he quietly plotted what to do with the two. "Okay, here's what we're gonna do." He said a moment later, turning back to them. "You two are gonna be my eyes, and ears. I wanna know anything and everything that goes on 'round here. You two are gonna make sure nothing goes wrong with this whole operation." The pair nodded, eyes wide.

"Th-Thank you Don Octavio..." Tore squeaked.

"That's right. I want reports every week. So get to it." The pair were released and ran off and the two guards who had been holding them looked at Octavio. "Keep an eye on them, they try to run or hide anything, shoot 'em in the back." He growled. They nodded and followed the other two and Octavio sighed.

Sly grimaced slightly and continued on his way, slipping into the room on the other side of the plexiglass, gasping as he came face to face with a cat guard. Before the guard could react Sly swung his cane up and hit him on the side of the head, knocking him out cold. With a small sigh of relief he stood and moved to press the button to open the door for Bentley.

"Thanks pal, judging from the security we must be getting close." Bentley said as he bombed the next door. After yet another laser filled corridor and double button door they finally came to a room with a huge computer.

"Wow... That thing is huge." Sly said.

"Yes! It's a Worlitzer-700! I can splice into this easy." Bentley grinned and smirked a little.

"Just so long as you're enjoying yourself, that's the important part." Sly chuckled.

"Aside from a few tense moments that break in seemed to go pretty well."

"Yeah, well it's not over yet. Hack into that thing and let's get out of here." Bentley nodded and turned around to start the process of hacking into the computer.

"Oh it'll be a snap extracting the details on Octavio's operation from this old dinosaur." He smirked, typing in a few keystrokes. Sly smiled, glad to see him so relaxed and confident. He leaned back against a railing to wait when an alarm went off. He sat bolt upright and Bentley gasped.

"What? A delay switch?" Bentley cursed under his breath and shook his head, quickly attaching his laptop to the Worlitzer. "Sorry Sly, guess the dinosaur has teeth... Just, buy me some time. There's sure to be guards on the way." Sly nodded and twirled his cane, glaring at the door as it flew open as a pidgeon guard burst through it.

" _Sly what the hell is going on?"_ Tris asked in a harsh whisper.

"We have a bit of a situation down here. How's things going up there?"

* * *

Josie and Tris joined a group of party goers not long after Sly and Bentley entered the cellar. Keeping a low profile they entered the upstairs with the other guests, staying in the middle of the group so the guards wouldn't notice them. Once inside Josie looked around the grand room they were in.

"Ah, the decor of opera stars and mafia leaders." Josie smirked. The whole room was marble and gold and crushed red velvet the color of wine. "Ostentatious and tacky." Tris laughed and nodded.

"Alright, you take this floor, I'll see if I can't find the main office. Try to snap pics of the guests if you can." Josie nodded and walked further into the party, smiling vaguely at guests as she passed them. Until she ran into a tall, lanky deer woman in a black and red dress.

"Ah! Pardon me..." She said, stepping back and blushing slightly.

"It's not a problem darling! Welcome to the party." The woman said offering a warm smile. "Enjoy the pastries, made by the best baker in Venezia!"

"Thank you madame." She slipped away from the woman's gaze and sighed softly as she got to work snapping discreet pictures of the guests.

Tris made her way upstairs and cautiously began looking for an office or library. There weren't any guards in the halls but she kept her ears open, not wanting to run into Octavio. She had pulled the blueprints and quickly found the upstairs office and slipped inside. Once in she walked over to the desk and placed a small bug under it, the pried open the phone and bugged that as well. "Hmm... No computer in here." She mumbled to herself, tapping a gloved hand on the desk. "If I were a mob boss where would I hide my secret plans..." She walked around the room, trying to get a feel for Octavio by the items around her.

The painting of him over the fireplace was clearly old and taken well care of, but there was a clear layer of dust indicating it hadn't moved in sometime. A check behind it confirmed that since there was nothing but a dark patch of wallpaper behind it. There were several pictures of Bambi, his twenty something wife. She wasn't entirely sure what was creepier, the pictures of them together of the blatantly displayed pictures of him with well known criminals like Rajan. She paused and frowned. One painting in the room stood out and clashed with the otherwise overly lavish room.

"Caveman chic, bet Bambi picked this one out." She said, lifting the canvas from the wall and smirking. "And bingo." She smirked at the small terminal on the wall. She pulled a flashdrive from her purse and loaded on her hacking software, but froze as an alarm sounded.

Downstairs Josie looked around for the source of the alarm and tensed as she noticed guards move both upstairs and to the basement. She turned on the all team frequency and slipped into a quiet side room.

" _We have a bit of a situation down here. How's things going up there?"_ Sly was responding to Tris she assumed.

" _ **Well they were going fine until the alarm sounded!"**_ Tris snapped, gathering her things and rushing out of the office. " _ **Who tripped the alarm?"**_

" _I did. It was a mistake on my part, I should have checked for a delay switch."_ Bentley said over the sounds of fighting in the background.

"Do you need help getting out of there?" Josie asked, glancing out of the room as the guards started to herd people out much to Bambi's distress.

" _No! Just get back to the safe house."_ Josie frowned. " _We'll catch up to you."_

" _I'm halfway through the security already, just get out before Octavio starts suspecting you."_ Bentley added. Josie bit her lip and groaned, stepping out of the side room and moving to the front door.

"If you're not back in fifteen minutes I'm coming down there." She warned, letting a guard guide her out of the villa grounds. Tris was already standing on the other side of a bridge and sighed in relief when Josie joined her.

"Thank goodness I was-" Josie frowned, ignoring Tris' panicked hug and brushing past her. On a cafe table across from the villa was a single card with the image of a fox. She picked it up, glancing around for the person who might have left it. It was a childish card, like one would send a relative for their birthday or a relative in the hospital.

On the outside was a fox surrounded by tissues and crying and the words "Miss You Darling" written in bold block print. Inside was another story. In flowing cursive writing was a few short lines reading, "but just this once, next time you interfere with one of my heists I won't. Leave Octavio alone, he's MY target." Joise handed the card to Tris who frowned slightly.

"Well if that's not a threat then I'll eat my glasses." She mumbled. "Let's get back to the safe house before someone realizes we weren't exactly on the guest list.

 **...**

Bentley and Sly returned to the safe house to find Joise and Tris arguing over what to do next. The pair stood in the doorway while Joise leaned over the table and glared at her friend.

"This isn't normal!" She snapped. "Clearly the Fox wants to take Octavio down themself, and if we get in the way they're going to do more than send threatening cards!"

"If we back off the Fox wins!" Tris snapped back. "We can't just abandon this. If we don't stop the tar, Murray won't join up. If we don't have Murray we can't get in the vault. This isn't up for discussion. We have to do this!"

Sly cleared his throat and winced as Joise whirled around to glare at him, her usually blue eyes almost grey with anger. "What's this about a card?" He asked. Tris sighed and handed him the card as he joined them at the table.

"Our friendly neighborhood Fox left that for us." She grumbled. "It's a challenge."

"It's a threat! Tris, we have no idea what the Fox is capable of! We have no idea if they have connections around the city, if they're actually an organization... They could be bigger than we think!"

"So? We've fought off worse."

"What? You mean Clock-la?"

"And the Contessa, and Raleigh, and-"

"May I remind you we lost 90% of the team after Clock-la? And none of us got out without some form of scar? Hel is blind now, Aline was disfigured, Bentley ended up in a wheelchair-"

"Joise calm down." Sly said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Tris is right. We can't let this... Fox run us off. We need Murray and the only way we're gonna get him back is if we follow this through." Josie growled and shrugged his hand off.

"When this comes back to bite us, and trust me it will, don't cry to me about it." She said, stalking up the stairs. Sly sighed and shook his head.

"Bentley we have to make this quick. Any ideas?"

"A few... You up for trailing Octavio on his daily rounds in an hour?"

"I see what you're thinking, get some pictures of him dumping the tar and give the proof to the cops, right?" Bentley nodded. "I can do that." He smirked and then glanced up the stairs before sighing again.

Stepping out of the safe house he made his way onto the rooftops and made his way back to the Villa to wait for Octavio to leave for his rounds.

* * *

Alright guys, I'll be back next week. Let me know what you think! Happy reading until next time!


	11. Chapter 11 Explosives Run

Hello my readers! Here's the next chapter!

* * *

Sly was surprised when Octavio came out of the villa. He hadn't expected the don to leave after all the chaos at his wife's birthday. He leapt from the roof and silently walked along with a group of tourists, trying to remain inconspicuous. Octavio and three of his goons were carrying on as if nothing had happened, smiling at tourists as they walked past.

"You sent word to Georgio?" Octavio asked the golden retriever who was walking beside him.

"Of course sir. He will call you within the hour."

Octavio relaxed, just slightly, and nodded. "Good. You're dismissed. Make sure those cops don't snoop around the villa." The retriever bowed slightly and slipped away from the group, leaving Octavio with two guards. "You two, find me the ones responsible for breaking into my house, and if either of you see that..." He paused and then smiled and tipped his hat to a small boy who stared up at him as they passed. "Fox who was snooping around last night..." He smirked, showing off his large teeth. "You know what to do." The two guards nodded and split off in separate directions while Octavio went down a secluded side street. Sly frowned slightly.

"You get all that Bentley?" He ducked down the same side street several paces behind the old lion.

" _I did. Keep following him, if he's headed where I think he's headed we'll have Murray back by tomorrow night."_ Sly nodded and kept his distance from Octavio, browsing the various little shops while he kept an eye on him. He chuckled and picked up a pair of sunglasses with Zebra striping.

"Nothing says fashion like animal print." He laughed at his own joke and shook his head.

" _Sly focus! He's getting away!"_ Bentley snapped.

"Yeah, yeah, I see him Bentley, calm down." He handed the shop owner a couple Euros, buying the sunglasses and a few postcards before he resumed following Octavio down the street. "These glasses are great." He chuckled.

" _They're ugly Sly."_

"I know! That's what makes them great!." He paused and smirked, snapping a quick picture of Octavio as he stopped at a crank on the side of a building. "Eh, you just don't appreciate the humor."

" _Evidently not, but I'm not exactly in a laughing mood Sly. We have the Fox breathing down our necks, and that birdbath is filled with tar now. I really don't think now is the time for humor."_ Sly sighed and shook his head.

"Just trying to keep things from getting too stressful pal. I know we've got a lot on our plate, but I mean come on... It's no worse than some of the other things we've faced." He slipped onto a roof and followed Octavio along the path, keeping out of sight. The Don stopped again, looking around with a frown and small snarl. When he saw no one he continued along the street, turning down another narrow one to a fountain. Sly crept along the edge of the buildings and found a good spot to catch a picture of the tar and Octavio at another wheel crank. He frowned and shook his head. "Why would anyone want to flood things like this with tar?" He asked, watching Octavio move on.

He kept on his trail, getting several more pictures before Octavio made his way onto a narrow ledge hidden from the street. " _What is he doing? He's working on another switch but I don't see where the tar is supposed to come out..."_ Bentley said.

Sly nodded. "Me either... Wait!" He ran to an aquarium and watched as tar began to flow into the water, turning it black.

" _Those poor dead fish! That monster killed them for no good reason!"_ Sly sighed and shook his head.

"Whatever he's doing he's filling every water source he can find." He turned away from the aquarium and watched as Octavio continued on his way.

" _We have to stop this monster Sly!"_

"Don't worry pal, we'll avenge the fish." He promised, trailing after Octavio again. This time the man stopped at a ferris wheel and got on as his phone rang.

"Ah, good, you called just in time." Octavio grinned as he answered his phone.

" _See if you can get on the car he's on and listen in on his conversation. It might give us some good intel."_

Sly nodded and hurried to the ferris wheel, climbing on the back of the car. "Georgio, the ferris wheel was a good idea, she's pumping the tar fast and nobody suspects a thing!" Sly grimaced. "But... Is it going to be enough to have things ready by my opera recital?"

" _I did find mentions of the opera recital in his computers, but nothing about this ferris wheel it must be a new addition and Octavio most likely didn't want to leave a paper trail."_

"Bella! When the people come to hear me sing I want to make sure they keep coming... Even if they don't feel like it. One way or another, they'll be opera fans again!" Octavio laughed and got off the ferris wheel.

"You catch that-"

" _Break open that control panel Sly. I'm on my way to do a little... rewiring. No one twists a time honored amusement park ride for evil and gets away with it on my watch!"_ Sly shook his head but quickly got the control panel open. Sometimes Bentley didn't quite make sense to him but he didn't usually question him seriously.

As Bentley arrived, tool kit in hand, he glared up at the ferris wheel. "Look away if you must, you're about to witness the dark side of electrical engineering." He said, getting to work tearing out wires and connecting them in the wrong places. Sly's eyes widened as the wheel began to speed up, the cheery music it was playing getting faster and turning creepy. "Kill a bunch of innocent fish will he..."

"I thought you hated fish..." Sly frowned.

"I hate eating fish. That should do it, come on we need to get out of the way." Bentley booked it, running away from the ferris wheel as the beams holding it up rattled and groaned. Sly gasped and took off after him, wincing as there was a terrible groan followed by a snap and the whole wheel went tumbling and spinning off of its hinges.

"Man you're really worked up over the fish." Bentley didn't respond, just made his way to the safe house with Sly in stony silence.

Tris met Sly at the door with a bundle of photographs. "Deliver to the police station. Carm and Liam can handle the rest." She said with a smile.

* * *

They were eating breakfast the next morning when there was a loud thump at the door. Sly stood and went to investigate, finding the pictures he'd delivered pinned to the door with a rather large knife and another card. His ears fell back as he pulled them free and returned to the others.

"I knew it!" Tris said. "I knew the Fox would get them first." She took the card and opened it, starting a short recording.

" _ **I warned you to stay away from Octavio. But if you won't back off I guess it's time to take real action. Leave Italy tonight, or else."**_ The Fox's voice filled the silent room and Tris shook her head.

"Whoever this Fox is they're good." She said, setting down the card down on the table. "Luckily I sent an email to the police as well."

"You sure the Fox didn't delete that too?" Josie raised an eyebrow at her and folded her arms over her chest. "I mean if they're good enough to stop the hard copy who's to say they didn't get to the digital too?"

Tris smirked. "The bug I put in the file would have sent me a warning telling me they'd been deleted." She adjusted her glasses and then stood. "I took care of it. But, there's still one problem... Octavio's recital is tomorrow. There's no way the police will get things together in time to stop him."

"She's right. We need to stop his recital." Bentley agreed.

"I have an idea on how to do it too." She glanced at Bentley. "You like fireworks right?" He passed and raised an eyebrow.

"I guess?"

"How do you feel about going into the firework business?" He frowned for a moment but grinned as he realized what she was talking about.

"Oh! I see what you're thinking. I have a contact who can get us set up in a little shop right away."

* * *

"Tell me again why we're selling fireworks instead of working on stopping Octavio?" Josie asked, raising an eyebrow at Bentley as he finished setting up the small stand he'd acquired.

"We're not. Well... Look, Octavio has been promoting his recital for weeks with those big balloons and that ugly sign on the tower by the police station." She grimaced.

"That thing could cause nightmares." She grumbled. Bentley chuckled and nodded.

"He didn't age very gracefully did he?" He laughed. "Look we're just selling the fireworks as a cover, Sly is going to run a few of my more powerful combinations to the anchors holding the balloons in place."

"Oh... I get it." She nodded and Sly walked up, leaning on his cane with a smirk.

"Hello lovely lady, one high powered explosive please." He teased. Bentley rolled his eyes and handed Sly the explosive.

"I'm out of remote detonators so I'm going to have to use long fuses... Don't dilly dally..." He warned with a mild glare at Sly. "I mean it." Sly sobered up immediately and nodded.

"Got it. I'll be quick." Josie gave Bentley a horrified look as he lit the fuse and Sly took off.

"What the hell?" She snapped. "Bentley this is insane!"

"Calm down Josie, Sly knows what he's doing." Her heart leapt into her throat as an explosion sounded not much later and she waited for Sly to return. By the time he returned, only a minute later, she was a nervous wreck.

"Hurry, give me the next one before-"

"Oh no you don't!" She growled. "This is not okay with me." Sly sighed.

"Josie we don't really have the time here."

"He only needs to run one more anyway." Bentley said, handing Sly a much larger explosive. "But be careful Sly, this one has a longer fuse but you have farther to go." Sly nodded and took off before Joise could protest.

"Why is nobody listening to me?" She growled, ears flicking back flat against her head. "Bentley this is ridiculous I don't think it's a-"

"Josie come on, it's fine, Sly done this sort of thing before." He patted her arm and she growled again. "Come on watch this, the wind is blowing in just the right direction for the second part of the plan!" He set his laptop on the counter and she begrudgingly watched the feed from Sly's mask. He made it to the anchor with time to spare and took cover as it exploded.

Bentley cackled slightly as the balloon floated towards the sign. "The balloon will impact the sign, and the gasses inside, being combustible, will ignite creating another explosion that will take out the sign!" He grinned. "Hindenburg part two!" Josie frowned and shook her head as the wind died and Bentley pouted. "Drat... The balloon's caught... See if you can climb up and knock the balloon free. I'll start working on an explosive for the sign."

Sly nodded and started the climb up as Josie sat back. "I knew something like this would happen." She said, earning a mild glare from Bentley as he started to cobble together another explosive.

"This fuse is just long enough to give Sly enough time to get up the tower, but -" They both froze as a large explosion rocked the city and the feed on the laptop went to static.

"Sly!" Joise leapt over the counter before Bentley could stop her and ran through the streets towards the tower where the sign had been. Sly's ears were ringing and his fur was singed but the sign had actually fallen apart and a chunk of it had shielded him from the blast. Of course said chunk was now crushing him as he lay on the ground.

Josie ran over and helped a shopkeeper pull the debris off of him. "Sly, are you okay?" She asked, almost afraid to touch him.

"Yeah, I think so..." He mumbled. Surprisingly nothing felt broken, just bruised and scraped. He managed to sit up and shook soot from his fur. "That was not fun." He gasped as Josie hugged him tight.

"I thought I'd lost you." She whispered, and he noticed she was shaking badly. He hugged her back.

"Hey it's okay, I'm fine." He assured her, kissing her cheek and smiling at her.

She frowned back and glared at him. "Don't you ever do something like that again! You scared me half to death!"

"I know, I know. I'm sorry." He said softly, groaning as she helped him stand. "Now let's get out of here before the cops show." She nodded and they stared back towards the safe house, that is until three high pitched chirps played on their com line, a distress signal.

" _Guys, come back here I need help!"_ Bentley cried. " _Octavio showed up and he, gah! He's trying to break down the door! Please help!"_ Sly gave Josie a worried look and they both changed direction and headed back to the small shop, just in time to find Octavio emerging from the trashed shop with Bentley in tow.

"Ah, Sly Cooper. My boy on the inside found a copy of those pictures of me you tried to give to the cops. Nice try but I own this town." Octavio growled. Joise and Sly both glared at him, Josie holding her shock pistol at the ready.

"Put my friend down or I'm gonna knock out your teeth, one at a time, and make you eat 'em." Sly warned in a surprisingly calm but rather dangerous tone to which Octavio only laughed.

"That the toughest talk you got? You're pathetic! In my day we had enforcers who would make people piss their pants just as soon as look at them."

"Listen old timer I don't make idle threats. Now I'll say it again, put my friend down."

"Oh I know all about you Sly Cooper. Someone gave me a very handy file on you and your broken little gang. You ain't nothing without this little guy's brains, even with that techy otter you have hanging around." Octavio sneered. "So... I figure I'll just scoop them out real slow and use them to fertilize my tomato plants!"

"I... I'm allergic to tomatoes..." Bentley mumbled.

Sly growled and leapt forward, narrowly missing Octavio as the lion took off. "Get back here coward!" Josie yelled as she sent a few wild shots after him. They weren't well aimed however since she was still shaking from earlier. "Sly I'll see if I can circle around and cut him off, don't lose him!" She said, taking off in the opposite direction. Sly nodded and followed after the lion and his friend.

Octavio lead him all over Venice, trying hard to lose him in the chaos around the sights of the explosions, or in narrow side streets but Sly wasn't about to let him get away with taking Bentley hostage. He took to the rooftops when he needed to, dodging guards and traps that Octavio had set up around the city. Octavio growled and then slid to a stop in one of the wider streets, a look of panic crossing his face. In the middle of the street stood the Fox, this time white as a ghost with pitch black eyes.

"La Volpe Fantasma!" He whispered, dropping Bentley as they started to walk towards him. "No! Stay away!" He ran down another road and Sly hurried to Bentley's side as the Fox glared at them.

"I told you to leave Venice." They hissed. "It seems you won't take my warning to heart... It's a shame, Carmelita and Liam seemed nice for cops." Sly's head snapped up and he frowned.

"What are you talking about?" He growled.

"I warned you that there would be consequences if you stayed in Venice... It's almost time for them to go on patrol, I do hope the Blue Vipers don't think they're investigating their activity." His stomach hit his toes and he glanced at his watch. "You brought this on them. It's such a pity, I do hope they're given proper funerals, but you know how the Vipers can be... Why the last cop they killed was found spread all over the city!" Sly stood and picked up Bentley.

"Hold on pal, we have to find Carmelita and Liam." He said, putting him on his back. Bentley nodded in agreement and held on tight. "If they're hurt I swear I'll take you down myself!" Sly glared at the fox a moment and then took off running again. His lungs were burning, his legs ached, but he wasn't about to lose Carmelita or Liam to a gang like the Blue Vipers. "Josie, find Liam, the Fox sent the Blue Vipers after him, I'm on my way to stop Carmelita."

Josie swore and took to the roof tops. " _I'm on it Sly. Did you get Bentley?"_

"He's safe."

" _Good... Stay safe you two."_

* * *

So the Blue Vipers... They always interested me. SO, I do have one question. How do you guys feel about Liam? I know I like him, but how do you guys feel about him? Let me know!


	12. Chapter 12 The Blue Vipers

So... It's been a long time... Again. I'm so sorry everyone. I'm back though and working hard on bringing the rest of the story. With that said, I hope you enjoy this chapter and I'm so sorry again for the long wait!

* * *

Josephina ran, she ran as fast as she was able as she searched for Liam in the busy streets. She panted, legs burning from her frantic search. Liam was patrolling near the Rialto Bridge, weaving between tourists as he looked kept an eye out for any sign of the person behind the tar. He sighed and stopped for a moment, leaning against the railing to watch the boats pass under him, his tail flicking a little. It was such a slow day. A slight glint off a taller building's roof caught his eye and he frowned, standing to get at his binoculars only to catch a bullet in the shoulder, just as Josephina slammed into him and sent him to the ground. Panic erupted on the bridge and tourists scattered. Josie frantically pulled a first aid kit from her bag and dragged him out of the sight of snipers, her breathing a bit ragged.

"What the hell?" He mumbled, looking down at his arm as she tore away his shirt sleeve.

"Blue Vipers, long story, stay still so I can get the bleeding stopped." She snapped. Her slight wince as she looked over the damage was enough to tell him it wasn't a pretty sight.

"The Vipers?"

"Like I said it's a long story..." She bandaged him up as quickly and as neatly as possible, making a makeshift sling from the remaining sleeve of his jacket. He groaned and grit his teeth, but stayed still until she was finished. "And it doesn't look like I'm going to get to finish it. Here comes trouble, can you still shoot?" He smirked and nodded.

"Course I can." He pulled his pistol from his side holster and put his back to hers as she drew her own.

"Good." She took aim and steadied her shaking hands before firing, a smirk playing on her lips as she hit her first target. Liam grit his teeth again as he fired and it jolted his body and up into his shoulder.

"Damn... Been awhile since I had to do this..." He hissed.

"Last time you and I were in Chicago, right?" He paused and then chuckled.

"Sounds about right. I'm calling in backup."

"I'm not leaving."

"What you think I'm gonna arrest you after you save my life? How low do you think I am?" He smirked over his shoulder at her and she rolled her eyes.

"Well you did try to arrest me after the whole Clock-La thing." Three more vipers hit the ground, one getting a little close for her comfort. "You want to hurry up and get that back up?" Trying to cover both sides of the bridge wasn't easy.

"Yeah, sorry." He grabbed his radio from his belt. "This is Liam, I was wounded at Rialto, extraction needed, hostiles in the area. Repeat, hostiles in the area. Blue Vipers are converging on my position."

" _Woah, Vipers? We're on it boss, extraction in five."_ He nodded and grabbed his pistol again as a Viper made it within a foot.

"You're slowing down Augustine." He teased, earning a growl.

"I am not!" She hissed.

"Well that last viper said you were." She glared at him, her tail lashing as she stood.

"Well then, I guess you don't need me here, you have help on the way after all." She started to walk away but he caught her wrist.

"Josie, come on it was a joke..."

"I'm not staying here just so your goons can arrest me. I did my part, I kept you alive until you could call in backup. You can handle yourself until they get here." She yanked her hand from his and walked off in silence. He sighed and dropped back to the ground, firing at a viper as he came running up, but the pack was thinning out now and she was right, he didn't need her to stick around.

 **...**

Josie sat on the roof of the hideout in silence, her knees to her chest and her tail curled around her feet. A hand fell on her shoulder, causing her to jump and look up at the person who'd joined her.

Tris smiled at her and sat down beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Josie went back to staring at her stained hands, still red with Liam's blood. If she'd been just a minute later he would likely have been shot again and killed. Instead her fur was stained and her mind was buzzing with old feelings.

"You and Liam are like matches." Tris said after a long moment of silence. "You burn each other out faster than either of you wants to admit." Josie looked up at her and then nodded with a soft sigh.

"I guess..."

"Hey, like you said, you did your part. Liam is alive thanks to you and I confirmed his team did pick him up, he's at the police station getting stitches from his medic."

"Surgery was never my strong suit... just wish I had had time to patch him up right." Tris sighed and shook her head.

"Just, don't get too hung up on this. Alright?" Josie nodded again and Tris stood. "I'll be inside if you need to talk." Josie curled up again, watching the water in the canal below shimmer with late afternoon sun.

* * *

Sly sat Bentley in a police gondola and quickly took up position to guide the boat as Bentley took up the gunner seat and hot wired the engine.

"Carmelita should be passing by in less than a minute." Bentley said, glancing down the canal, just as Carmelita's boat turned down it. "I swear she runs on clockwork." He said, starting up the boat.

"Let's just focus on stopping the Vipers." Sly said as the boat lurched into motion and he maneuvered it to follow Carmelita's. Not even two canals over three Blue Viper boats cut between them before Sly could floor it to close the gap.

"We can't let them get close to her boat!" Sly growled. "Bentley, shoot out their engines."

" _I'm trying to raise Carmelita on coms, but I can't get her frequency."_ Tris said.  " _Good news is Josie made it on time to Liam. You two just focus on stopping those Vipers."_ Sly nodded, even though she couldn't see him, and Bentley glanced over his shoulder at him.

"Let's do this Sly! Just... Try not to run into anything." Dodging around the various boats in the canal Sly quickly caught up with the three Viper gondolas and stayed on the last one's tail. "Keep on him Sly."

"Aim for his engine, it's the fastest way to stop these guys." Bentley nodded and took aim, jolting as the gun fired several rapid shots. He grit his teeth and took aim again as his first shots missed. Sly narrowed his eyes, he could see Carmelita's gondola not far ahead, moving slowly for her patrol. "Damn it. Bentley we don't have a whole lot of time here."

"I'm well aware, thank you." Bentley rolled his eyes and returned to firing.

Carmelita frowned and glanced over her shoulder as she heard the shots, her eyes going wide as she she spotted the telltale Blue Viper's symbols on the three boats and the stolen police boat following behind them. Static caught her attention and she grabbed her radio. " _ **This is Liam, I was wounded at Rialto, extraction needed, hostiles in the area. Repeat, hostiles in the area. Blue Vipers are converging on my position."  
**_ " _Woah, Vipers? We're on it boss, extraction in five."_ She frowned and guided her boat into a smaller canal.

"Inspector Fox reporting in, what's going on?"

" _Carmelita! Finally! Get off the canals and to a safe place, the Blue Vipers think you're investigating them."_

"What the... Who is this?" She growled.

" _It's Trista Dufour. Please just listen to me and get off your patrol route and find a safe place."_ Carmelita paused but quickly made her way to the closest dock.

"Tell Cooper to stop firing, we have enough trouble in the city right now." She jogged back to the police station where Liam's mercs were gathered around him. A beever medic was quietly working on his shoulder and he was scowling at the floor.

"What the hell made the Vipers come after us?" Carmelita snapped. "Did you cross into their territory asking about the tar?" Liam rolled his eyes.

"No, I made sure to stay clear." He grumbled.

"Then why are they trying to kill us?"

"Do you think they could have been hired?" He grit his teeth and bit back a growl as he glared at the medic. "You wanna go a little easier on me there pal?"

"Sorry, boss." The medic said. "But the hole in your shoulder isn't going to magically fix itself in time for you to go running out in the field again, now sit still... baby." Liam smirked and shook his head.

"I heard that Madison." He said. The medic smirked back.

"Well then stop squirming and I won't call you a baby anymore."

Carmelita rolled her eyes. "Enough!" She snarled, baring her teeth. "We don't have time for this, the Blue Vipers don't let their targets just walk away from assassination attempts."

"She's right... Barricade the doors and check all the other entrances. No one gets in, no one gets out." The assembled mercs ran off to do as told and Carmelita pulled out a chair.

"I'd bet good money Octavio hired them." She grumbled. "If I was a betting woman that is." Liam chuckled bitterly.

"I agree..." He stood and sighed as the doctor got his arm situated in a proper sling.

"We can't let them get away with attacking us like this. This deserves payback." She hissed.

"Once again I agree." He glanced at the medic who shook his head and sighed.

"Boss, come on, there is no way I'm letting you go running around in the field right now."

"The hell you aren't! I was shot at! I deserve to do a little shooting back!" He growled as Madison tried to get him to sit back down.

"I hear you boss but be reasonable about this. You need to sit this one out."

Carmelita rolled her eyes. "I'll take a team to the villa, when you two stop bickering, feel free to join me." She grumbled, whistling to gain the attention of the gathered mercs. "Addams, Rodney, Lucian, you're with me. Denver, Paullina, circle around the villa and stay in contact." The called out mercs nodded and ran off to get their gear as Carmelita picked up several battery packs for her shock pistol.

* * *

" _Sly we have a problem."_ Sly dodged a crate before responding to Tris who sounded distinctly worried.

"What's going on?" He asked, wincing as the boat grazed the side of the canal as they came to a full stop.

" _Carmelita left her com line open when she got to the police station. She's getting Liam's mercs ready to storm Octavio's villa."_

"Damn it, can't we catch a breath today?" He helped Bentley from the boat.

" _Apparently not. Look the only way to stop Venice from turning into a full out war zone is to stop Carmelita and Liam. We have to find proof Octavio wasn't behind the Vipers attacks. I think I've pinpointed the Fox's hideout, I'm setting a marker near it."_

"What about Bentley?"

" _I have a friend moving in to pick him up."_ Sly nodded and got Bentley situated on a bench overlooking the water before running off and climbing onto the nearest roof. He made his way over the rooftops, glancing at the slowly setting sun and wondering if they had time to stop Octavio's plans. He sighed and kept running, focusing on the task at hand. He ended up in a warehouse district and looked around with narrowed eyes.

"Alright Tris, which building am I looking for?" He asked, crouching down and scanning the surrounding roofs.

Tris took control of his binocucom camera and directed it to a building two rows over. " _The Fox has been sighted in this area according to my sources. This building is unrented and currently abandoned."_ She said. He nodded and stood, tucking away his binocucom.

"I'll see what I can find." He hummed and circled the building, looking for a way in. The building had a skylight, multiple small windows along the back hidden from view... it all seemed too easy. He landed near a vent and tapped his cane to it, hissing as sparks flew around him and shocks went up his arm. "Alright, not going in that way..." He mumbled. Eventually he settled on the skylight and dropped into the warehouse's rafters silently as possible. Of course in the dead silent warehouse it still made an awful amount of noise that rattled his already slightly frayed nerves.

Cautiously moving through the rafters he came upon a small area strewn with papers and maps and cups of coffee tucked in a back corner behind several old abandoned crates. He looked around but there was no one in the building and so he dropped down to inspect the mess of papers. The maps were all interconnected, different parts of the city all connected with red, yellow, or dark purple twine. A grimace crossed his face as he realized the twine formed his calling card.

He pulled away from the table and examined the rest of the area. The battered coffee pot, the crappy mattress in the corner, the trunk that upon investigation was empty. He frowned and looked around the little space, a dart narrowly missing his ear and causing him to look around for whoever had fired it at him. There was no one else in the room, but he did spot a camera attached to a dart gun hooked up to a robotic arm.

"Clever..." he muttered, going to get the dart, which had landed in the center of the face on the map with a note. "Like anyone would see me going into my hideout." He read before sighing. "Yeah, got that, was the dart really necessary?" he asked the camera, finding himself a bit surprised when it moved in a nodding motion. He smirked. "Well, taking this with me is necessary." He grabbed the camera and detached it, along with the robot arm, both of which went into his pack before he walked out of the warehouse.

* * *

Josie silently dropped into an alleyway several blocks from the hideout, peaking around the corner to watch the building across the canal with her binocucom.

"Looks like a pretty relaxed security... guess no one expects someone would be stupid enough to actually try to break into the head of the Blue Viper Gang's house." She muttered to herself, rubbing her face. "Oh this is so going to get me killed..."

" _You've broken into tougher places, just get in, get out. No big deal!"_ Tris said. Josie rolled her eyes, lips curling in a grimace.

"Easy for you to say!" she hissed, watching as the gondolas Sly had taken out sputtered and puffed and were rowed into a water garage at the base of the building.

" _That garage is your best way in according to everything I've found."_

"Ah, perfect, the room now filled with gang members." She sighed and tucked away her binocucom before carefully making her way across the water, using passing boats and several boat ties to cross and carefully slipping into the garage before the doors could shut, ending up tucked between the door and a work bench.

"Damn it the motor is completely destroyed!" one of the divers, a tall skinny chameleon,snapped as he tossed aside his mask.

"Oh man the boss is gonna kill us..." The second, an anole, said, wringing his hands together and pacing around the dock.

"Shut up! He's upstairs, you want him to hear you?" The third gondola driver, a boa constrictor, smacked the anole upside the head with his tail, glaring at him.

"Oh like he doesn't know we failed already! What good is whispering going to do us? Huh?" The chameleon gasped and quickly covered the anole's mouth as heavy footsteps sounded on the stairs. Josie sucked in a deep breath and curled up as small as possible to avoid being seen as Amadeo Michele, the leader of the Blue Vipers, came down the stairs. Amadeo was an old spur-thighed tortoise, but despite his age he was fit and built like a tank. He loomed over the three gondoliers and grimaced down at them.

"H-Hi boss..." The boa squeaked, ducking behind the other two.

"Well boys, this is a sad day for us all..." Amadeo's voice was deep and rumbled around the room. "First Peter missed the wolf, and now you three, you three couldn't even kill the fox." He leaned on the heavy oak cane and glared at them.

"Yeah, but boss there was this other gondola that-"

"I don't care what stopped you! You are reptiles! We are descended from dinosaurs, we are superior!" He sneered. "This failure is not acceptable!"

"You're absolutely right boss, we'll fix it we swear!" The anole swore. "Just give us another chance."

"Another chance?" The rattling laugh he forced from his ancient lungs made Josie's hurt just hearing it. "Why should I let failures like you have another chance? If you were bested by those... fur covered beasts once, then you're not worthy of your bloodlines!" He snarled. "I can't trust failures like you to do anything!" the trio took a fearful step back, the boa hiding behind the other two. Amadeo wheezed and shuddered, stepping into a patch of sunlight streaming from one of the windows.

He took a long moment to warm his blood before sighing and shaking his head. "Alright, here are your options. Either, you three imbeciles find that damn lion and put him down for the bad Intel he gave us, or you take the first flight out of Venice before I change my mind and have you stuck in an icebox!" The trio nodded and bolted out the side door. Amadeo shook his head again and went out the opposite door, into his garden for some sunbathing, grumbling the whole way out the door about how he didn't retain heat like he used to.

Josie sighed in relief as she found herself alone and quickly made her way upstairs, looking around the office and grimacing. "Ugh, reptile supremacists..." She grumbled as she looked at the various cases around the room. Several arm bands, a helmet, old pistols, notebooks. She shuddered as she spotted the full uniform in the corner. "It's almost like stepping back to the 40s... Oh good. There's an actual fur blanket. Not horrific and barbaric at all." She begrudgingly began to go through the desk, careful to rearrange it exactly how she'd found it and avoiding the bear fur blanket as much as she could. "You know someone should really tell them that chickens are biologically linked to their precious dino ancestors too..."

" _Hurry up Josie, we don't have much time here! Plug in my USB so I can go through digital copies."_ She nodded and plugged the USB into the computer before returning to her search in the desk.

"Here's an information letter on Carmelita and Liam implying they're looking into the Vipers for the tar problem, signed by Octavio..."

" _That's not Octavio's signature. I saw his in his office."_ Tris said.  " _His is much bolder, stronger strokes."_

Josie nodded and snapped a picture of the document before putting it back. She looked around the room for a safe, hoping that maybe he keep hit orders in a more secure place.

"Seriously this place is creepy." She muttered to herself as she checked behind a painting of a much younger Amedeo wearing what appeared to be the uniform in the corner. "And unlike in the movies he's not dumb enough to keep the safe behind a painting of himself."

" _Hidden room behind the bookshelf?"_

She moved to the bookshelf and started checking the books, finding nothing. She grumbled and walked around the room again, looking under the display cases for hidden switches, moving paintings in search of safes, even checking the small bathroom for any hiding places but found nothing.

"Okay, seriously, where is he keeping all his information?" She hissed, tail lashing as she dug through the coat closet. "It can't all be on his computer." She ran a hand through her hair and huffed, glancing out the window to make sure Amedeo was still sunbathing, before she noticed an irregular floorboard directly behind his desk. Upon closer inspection she found it to be scratched, which wasn't all that interesting since most of the floor was, but it was the way it was scratched that caught her attention. One edge had gouges deep in wood and with a little prying she found it popped out of the floor with relative ease. "Cleaver old coot..." She smirked, pressing the button hidden under the board. A small section of the brick wall, partially hidden by a standing cabinet, slid aside to reveal a small hiding place which held a fair amount of cash and a large book that she quickly discovered was filled with contracts the Vipers had taken on, and the very last one was signed by the Fox in handwriting remarkably similar to the handwriting on the letter from "Octavio".

"Got it. I'll get this over to Carmelita and Liam, this should break open a lot of cases."

" _I have email correspondences too, downloading them now."_ Josie closed the hidden compartment and then scurried over to take the USB from the computer before using the window to make her escape.

* * *

Carmelita and her team were already at Octavio's villa by the time Josie showed up with the binder. In fact they'd almost stormed the place.

"So, it wasn't Octavio who hired them, it was the Fox..." Carmelita said as she looked over the information. "Thanks, I guess." She grimaced and Josie nodded.

"I get like... A head start for helping you out and preventing a small scale war right? Cause I'm really not in the mood to have to punch you..." She asked, glancing around in search of an exit route. Carmelita paused and then smirked and shook her head. "What is it with you thieves and head starts?" She asked. "Get outta here Augustine. Before I change my mind." Josie grinned, gave a mock salute and then took off, looping back on herself several times to avoid being followed back to the safe house.

* * *

Alright guys, I'll be back soon with another chapter, until then, hope things go well for you all!


	13. Chapter 13 Coffee Shops and Tar-Ball

Hey there my lovely readers! Got a new chapter for you! Hope you guys enjoy it! On with the chapter!

* * *

Sly glanced at their map of the city and frowned as he noticed several new red circles X's not far from their location.

"Hey Bentley what's up with these symbols?" He asked, leaning over the table as he waited for Bentley to glance at the map.

"Three coffee shops that Octavio has full time guards posted at." Bentley said after taking a very quick glance to make sure that was the marks Sly was referring to. "The X's are small tar drums connected to the main pump under his mansion." He fiddled with the small explosive in his hands, frowning as it made a rather annoying high pitched beeping noise. "Look, I've got to get these explosives ready in time for the heist. I need you and Josie to get into the shops and find Octavio's blueprints to the big one so I know where exactly to bomb it to cripple the whole operation. Get a uniform from the guard house and then send Josie inside to grab the blueprints from the painting safes."

"Aw man... Painting safes again?" Josie whined from the couch. "I hate those... Stupid hidden numbers..." She grumbled and grabbed her shoes, tugging them on again with clear annoyance.

"Would you rather play guard duty?" Sly asked with a smirk and earning another grimace from her.

"No thanks. I'll handle the safe." He chuckled and grabbed his cane before tossing her shock pistol to her.

"Aw, and here I was going to buy you dinner if you'd said yes, oh well..." He shrugged.

"Nice try Rings, but I'd much rather deal with the safe than have to stand outside in the open like that. And it's your turn to pay for dinner anyway, so either way, I win." She smirked and gave him a quick peck on the lips before slipping out of the safe house. Sly smirked back and shook his head.

"Who said it was my turn?" He called after her, his tail flicking as he climbed up to the roof where she was waiting.

"Uh, I paid last time. Remember? That makes it your turn." He shook his head.

"I don't think so, I'm fairly sure I paid."

" _Guys, come on... Not a lot of time here, remember? Get a move on and figure it out later!"_ Tris hissed in their ears.

Sly chuckled and followed Josie over the rooftops to the guard house. "Too bad that mechanic suit I nabbed back on the airship won't do us any good here." He said, spinning his cane as he looked for a good entry point. "See a way in?"

"Rooftop access, see it?" Josie pointed to a small trapdoor just visible from their slightly taller angle.

"I see it, be back in a jiffy." He dove over to the other roof and then slipped inside. The dark barracks was almost entirely silent except for a couple guards snoring on cots in the other rooms. Sly kept his footsteps light and began going through closets and footlockers in search of all the pieces he needed, eventually coming out of the building dressed in an oversized coat and mask.

" _ **Wow... You couldn't come up with something that fit better?"**_ Josie asked over the coms.

"Hey, my only other option was something made for a pigeon... Or a cat which was about two sizes too small and honestly I'll take looking like the marshmallow man over not being able breathe any day." He said, ignoring her snickering on the other end of the line.

"Whatever you say babe, let's just hope it fools the guards more than it's fooling anyone else." He nodded and set off towards the first cafe, and Josie followed a bit behind on the rooftops.

The guard in front of the cafe looked bored, leaning against the door and sighing before he spotted Sly. "Hold up, boss wants us to be sure, what's the midnight password?" Sly paused as Tris fed him the password and smirked under the mask.

"Bass, bass, bass, soprano." He said smoothly but it was his forced Italian accent that nearly sent Josie into hysterics.

"Alright, looks like you're the relief shift. Thanks for coming early, I've got big plans for tonight! Carnivale!" The man walked off and Josie walked over as soon as he was around the corner.

"Oh my God that's your best Italian accent?" She cackled, shaking her head as she moved to the door. "Didn't you like... Grow up here? Seriously that was by far the worst I've ever heard!"

"Oh come on I was really trying!" He whined, opening the door for her.

"Well it needs some work..."

"Yeah, yeah, just go get that blueprint." He smirked. She blew him a kiss and then slipped inside and froze.

"Seriously? Who uses wall to wall lasers in a coffee shop?" She sighed and leapt onto a nearby table, tail flicking as she planned her next jump. "We couldn't have cut the power or something?"

" _You sure are complaining a lot... If we cut the power it would tip off Octavio and we don't need a repeat of his showing up at the fireworks stand. It's bad enough we tipped him to our presence here."_ Tris said. " _Oh yeah, and don't break any of the lasers."_

"Aw and here I was about to just walk right through them." Josie rolled her eyes and leapt to the next table, and then a third before sliding over the counter. "Alright painting, let's see what we're working with here." She knelt and did a once over of the piece, a depiction of a winter landscape that looked like Jean Bison's lumber camp. She grimaced at the memories that surfaced and refocused on the task at hand, looking over the tiny details in the wood grains and snow drifts with a critical eye. "There you are." She cooed, committing the three number code to memory before carefully removing the painting from the wall and swiftly opening the safe hidden behind it. "One print down, all clear to exit Sly?"  
" _ **All clear, let's get moving before someone suspects something's up."**_ He said.

The next cafe was several blocks away, but Sly was quick to reach it, even weighed down by the ill fitting uniform he was wearing. Josie kept on his tail until they arrived where she waited silently in an alleyway for Sly to gain access.

"Hault! What's the house password?" The guard demanded.

"Easy, Tenor, Soprano, Tenor, Soprano." Sly said as the password flicked over his thief mask.

"Ah! Thank goodness you're here! Mama's makin' spaghetti tonight and I'm starving." The bulldog groaned. "I'm eat three, no! Four platefulls!"

"I'm-a guessing you-a really like-a her cooking?" His ear twitched as he heard Josie cackle over the radio.

"Mama mia, I wanna be buried in her sauce! It's heaven!" The guard hurried off and Sly watched him with a confused look on his face as Joise walked over, wheezing and holding her side.

"Babe, I'm sorry, you're great at so many things, but that... accent, if that's what you wanna call it... is not one of them." She snickered.

He rolled his eyes. "And you can't kill spiders by yourself, the big bad ex spy can't kill spiders without someone else."

"They're really fast!" She whined. "But fine, point made."

"Hey at least we aren't as weird as that guy, he wanted to be buried in his mom's pasta sauce." She paused and then snickered.

"Oh man, that's... really strange." He laughed and nodded, opening the door for her.

"Yeah, so, at least we've got that going for us." He winked. She stepped inside and looked around at the defences with a sigh.

"Seriously? What is with this guy?" She grumbled. Rather than lasers this shop had spotlights located every few feet, though luckily they were fairly stationary so sneaking through was quite easy. The next painting was of a dark swamp local, and fit nicely with the dark wood and exposed brick of the building. She hummed as she began methodically checking every inch of the canvas.

" _ **I know you're busy, but I just can't get it out of my head... Have you ever had pasta sauce that good? Are we missing out on a whole other universe of flavors here?"**_ Sly asked, breaking her concentration.

"Sly..." She whined, trying to ignore the rather persistent noises coming from her own stomach. "Mission first, food after." She returned her focus to the painting but his comment had thrown her off track, and now all she could think about was how long it was past lunch. The search took several minutes longer than it should have thanks to her distraction, much to her annoyance.

With the second print in hand she returned outside, stomach complaining again at the lack of lunch. "I was thinking, there _has_ to be a good Italian place around here, maybe we could grab a quick bite." Sly said, earning an annoyed look.

"Sly, enough with the sauce! We're almost done we can eat once we have the last blueprint."

"Right, right, sorry. Let's do this."

"It's still your turn to pay." She said as they started down the street again.

"What? No way!"

"Yes way, I paid last time!"

"I swear I paid."

She paused, groaning in annoyance. "We went to Louie's, remember? I paid for dinner because it was my turn." She said, folding her arms over her chest.

"And then we got ice cream at the Little Creamery, remember, and I paid for that."

"That doesn't count!"

"Yes it does!"

"Oh come on, I spent thirty three euros on dinner! You spent what, two?"

"Seven. But I still paid."

"So? That's not even comparable!"

He chuckled. "You're cute." He said, reaching over to boop her nose. "You think I'm serious don't you?" His ears tilted in concern. "Jo-Jo, come on, it's me we're talking about. Of course I'll pay, I just like teasing you." He winked and she looked away, blushing slightly and rubbing the back of her head. "By the way when you get mad your nose gets this little crinkle and it's adorable." She wrinkled her nose and huffed, still blushing as he chuckled again. "Just like that there. Let's get going so we can eat, yeah?" She nodded and hurried a few steps ahead, head down and trying to get the blushing to stop.

"You're gonna be the death of me Rings." She muttered.

"Well I hope not! You're not allowed to die until you're at least a hundred." She laughed.

"A hundred? Really?"

"Yep." He winked. "Really. Because I plan on going out at ninety nine."

"Ahh, I see." She hummed, looking up at him. "You really are cheesy, you know that?"

"Eh, call it one of my weaknesses." They came to the plaza and he gestured to the coffee shop across the way. "There it is, give me just a second." He walked over to the guard and grinned.

"Hold up, what's the Carnevale password?" The guard demanded.

"Tenor, Bass, Tenor, Tenor." Sly responded quickly.

"Yeah, alright, you know the password, but what's my nickname?" Sly's stomach dropped. "There's only one Tony B. on the payroll, and I'm famous in the family."

Always quick on his feet, Sly cleared his throat and shook his head. "Sorry, I'm-a new. Just got in from Rome-a." He said, subconsciously holding his breath.

"Oh, they know me in Rome, I'm practically the king of organized crime in Rome. You tellin' me you never heard of me there?" Sly didn't like the slight growl in the man's words.

"Whoops, my cell phone's going off! Could be the boss, I better take this!" He said, trying to keep the sudden panic out of his voice. He hurried off, feeling Tony's suspicious gaze on his back as he walked off. Once a safe distance away he pulled out his phone pretending to answer it. "Guys, now what?" He hissed.

" **I can't find anything about a nickname on the guard roster."** Tris said.  " **No emails to or from this guy either,"**

" _ **Are we positive he is actually on the roll? What if this is the Fox trying to pull a fast one on us and keep us from getting the last blueprint?"**_ Josie asked.

"I think the Fox would steal it first and rub it in our faces for funzies... They seem to like one upping us."

" _ **Sly, try asking the other guards in the area. It stands to reason that they would know something."**_ Bentley said.

Sly nodded and ended his fake call before quickly making his way out of the plaza in search of another guard. It didn't take more than two guards for him to find out that Tony B was, A) not well liked, and B) called himself Tony "The Killer" B.

" _ **Wow this guy clearly has watched too many mafia movies."**_ Josie said, shaking her head as she watched Sly make his way back to the plaza. " _ **And if he's the king of organized crime in Rome why the hell is he here? Working as a grunt no less? Idiot..."**_ She rolled her eyes and Sly bit back a smirk as he walked back up to Tony.

"Well if it ain't the hot shot. You figure out my nickname yet?"

"Of course! Everyone knows Tony _The Killer_ B-a. You're the terror of every play-a ground from here to Sicily." Sly kept from laughing as Tony's face contorted, first in anger and then to a smirk.

"Laugh all you want, at least I'm not on duty during Carnivale!" Tony stalked off and Joise landed beside Sly a moment later.

"Idiot." She grumbled. "The Killer B, what a stupid nickname..." She shook her head and Sly opened the door for her.

"Don't take too long on this one, if that guy comes back to chat, I'm out of here..." He said, grimacing behind his mask.

She smirked. "Afraid he might ask what his grandmother's maiden name is?" She teased.

"Well I am now!" He whined, earning a laugh from her as she walked inside.

"Wow, Ritzy." She said, glancing at the marble columns and plush furnishings. Slipping past the lasers and spotlights, she knelt in front of the painting. This one was of a street she recognized in Prauge, and she had to force back the memories of her experiences there. "Happy kittens with little pink toes..." She muttered to herself, grinding her teeth as a flash of hypnotic eyes broke through the pleasant image she'd managed to conjure up.

" _What was that?"_ Sly's voice caught her off guard, and she jumped slightly. " _Josie? Is everything alright?"_

"I'm fine... Just a minor flashback, thanks to the painting in here, I've got it under control though."

" _Alright, if you need anything..."_

"I know, Rings." She took a deep breath and refocused, finally spotting the numbers in a window. "Last piece of the puz-" She jerked back as an alarm screamed overhead, her fur standing on edge. She grabbed the last blueprint and bolted, slamming through the door with a look of panic.

"We gotta get out of here." Sly said, batting away a guard who got too close. Josie nodded and pointed to a nearby rooftop.

"Up there and follow me!" She scrambled up to the roof, barely waiting for him to acknowledge her.

Sly followed without hesitation, scurrying up a lamp post and onto the rooftops as quickly as possible. Joise led him on a mad dash across the city to the safe house, ducking in and out of alleyways to lose any guards who had followed them.

Tris nodded to them as they entered, and took the blueprints from Josie.

"Good work you two." She said as she arranged the prints on the table. "Perfect, Bentley, it's just like we thought. The tar drums feed the main pump, we need to shut them down too." she looked over at Bentley who sighed.

"Alright. I'll see if I can convince Murray to lend us a hand." He said, setting down his latest batch of bombs.

"Murray? Isn't he on a no violence thing?" Josie asked, leaning against the table. "I mean, he's not exactly all that keen on helping us at the moment."

"Murray has likely learned the aboriginal ball form, it would be enough to destroy the drums, and is non-violent."

"Okay but why can't you just... blow them up?"

"I need all my explosives for the main pump itself. I don't have any to spare." He moved set aside the explosive he'd been working on and gathered his crossbow and other gear. "I'll be back soon." He put his hat on his head and grinned as he rolled out of the safehouse.

"So about dinner..." Josie turned on her heel to look at Sly who chuckled.

"I was thinking Alfonso's." He said, offering a hand.

* * *

Murray arrived at the little cafe shortly after Bentley contacted him. He nervously waited, not sure he was ready to face his old friend again. After all, in his mind, it was his fault Bentley was in a wheelchair at all. He gathered his courage as he spotted him coming down the road.

Bentley stopped a bit short and gave a sheepish smile. "Hey." He said, hesitating a long moment before offering a hand.

"Hey..." Murray shook his hand and then shuffled awkwardly before sitting at the table. "I got your message. You have something you want to talk to me about?"

"Yeah, I do." He rolled up to the table and adjusted his glasses. "I need your help with a job-"

Murray sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry Bentley, I told Sly I can't help you guys." He started to stand only to have Bentley grab his arm.

"No wait, you don't understand!" He froze and met Bentley's eyes. "Please, hear me out." The chair groaned as he sat down again with a nod. "Thank you." He let go of his arm and sat back, taking a moment to gather his thoughts. "We need you to help us destroy some tar drums around town."

"I'm sorry Bentley but I can't. I'm on a different path now, one of peacefulness and... non-violence." Murray said, a frown creasing his brow. "I'm supposed to be peacefully meditating until the black water runs pure, I really can't help you go around destroying things."

"Come on Murray, It's me we're talking about, do you really think I would ask you to do this if it wasn't important? I know you're a student of the Dreamtime, I know you're supposed to be meditating, I would never ask you to break your vows or your commitments!"

"I know... It's just, my Guru... Bentley I can't help you! I'm not... I wasn't..."

"Wasn't what? You still blame yourself for this?" Bentley gestured to his chair and frowned. "Because I don't. I never have. It wasn't your damn fault! I was the one who screwed up. I was the one who didn't think about the fact the beak would fall shut when the chip was removed. All you did was pry the damn thing open after it shut, you didn't do anything!"

"But if I'd been faster or gone with you to hold the beak -"

"It's in the past Murray, you need to let it go! The only thing I feel even slightly bad about is the fact that I nearly lost you for good!" He sighed and ran a hand over his head. "I'm sorry you feel responsible for this... it was my fault."

They sat in silence for a several minutes, unmoving as the city went on living. A fountain bubbled, the sound of water hitting the boats echoed around them, it seemed as if time had stood still until a hand fell on Bentley's shoulder. They both looked up to see Tris and she shook her head as Murray started to open his mouth.

"You two have a lot to talk about, but now isn't the time. Murray, we need your help, please, and if you let me explain I'll tell you how you can do that without hurting anyone." Murray nodded and Tris sat down. "Good. Now, we need you to destroy the tar drums, as Bentley mentioned. As a student of the Australian Dreamtime, I assume you've learned the Ball Form?"

"Yeah, like my first week."

"Perfect. If you use your Ball Form and use the vents around town, you should be able to get enough air to build up the momentum you need to smash the tar drums. You don't hurt anyone, the drums get destroyed, and we're that much closer to the black water running pure. Get it?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"I'll stay here and keep an eye on your progress and direct you to each drum. Bentley... You should head back and finish the rest of the preparations." Bentley nodded and sighed.

"Yeah. I'll... I'll see you around Murray." He said, rolling away from the table and back to the hideout.

"See you..." Murray called, biting his bottom lip and looking at the ground.  
"Focus Murray, you two can talk once we clean up Venice." Tris slid an earpiece across the table. "Like I said, I'll be here." He took the earpiece and nodded before running off.

* * *

Bentley rubbed his face as he returned to the safehouse. He hadn't meant to go off like he had. He rolled inside and looked around but Sly and Josie were gone, leaving him alone with just his thoughts. With a groan he rolled over to his workspace and grabbed the bottle of aspirin, only to find it empty.

"I just bought you." He hissed at it, tossing it aside with a small growl. His head was pounding, stress and anxiety and anger all building into pressure and pain. The second bottle, kept in the bathroom with the rest of the first aid, was full but he had a feeling it wouldn't be enough. Still he took two and then went back to his workspace. He could hear the distant sounds of explosions as Murray took out tar drums, and Tris' gentle encouragement over the radio. Eventually it ground on his last nerve and he shut off the radio, letting the whole room fall into silence. It was, to his pusling, angry brain, relief, but to his thoughts and his mental state it allowed for a flood of doubts and old anxieties to come back.

Soft curses flooded from him followed by louder, slightly stronger ones as he struggled to get the explosives ready for the heist. Eventually however he decided to just give up and take a nap. Maybe after his head would feel better.

Tris returned about an hour later and tuck him in, and Sly took him up to bed when he got back from his date with Josie. Josie sat beside Tris who finished the wiring before sighing. "That should be everything." She said. "I'll double check but we should be ready to go tomorrow morning. With luck, we can shut this whole operation down before anything else goes wrong."

"Agreed... I just want to get back to Paris for a bit." Josie sighed. "Take a little break and lay low."

"I hear that. See you in the morning Josie."

"Night, Tris." Tris went upstairs and Sly walked over to kiss Josie's cheek.

"Come on, we should sleep." He said, gently pulling her to her feet and leading her up to bed.

* * *

There you go guys see you soon with another chapter!


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